RECAP: Pats Stay Hot At Home With 5-3 Win Over Blades
Regina, Sask. – The Regina Pats picked up their fifth straight home win, edging the Saskatoon Blades 5-3 on Friday inside the Brandt Centre.
Corban Almen and Aaron Krestanowich scored their first career WHL goals, which gave the Pats a 2-0 lead in the second period. Almen finished the game with two goals, while Jaxsin Vaughan tallied three points (1G-2A). Kelton Pyne made 32 saves and Tanner Howe chipped in with two points (1G-1A), helping snap the Pats two game skid.
The Pats once led 3-0 in the second, and led 3-2 after two after Saskatoon scored two straight goals to bring their group within one. Howe would sneak the puck underneath Austin Elliott early in the third to put the Pats up by a pair which proved to be a pivotal goal in the contest.
Hudson Kibblewhite, Easton Armstrong and Brandon Lisowsky scored for the Blades while Elliott allowed a season-high four goals against on 27 shots.
THEY SAID IT
“We’re pretty excited. It was just a full team effort, a gritty win. We’ve faced a little adversity with Braxton [Whitehead] out of our lineup who is one of our top scorers. We got contributions from our younger guys. Mushumanski, Almen and Jaxsin [Vaughan], they just lit a fire under us tonight. We didn’t panic, which could happen in a situation where you’re playing a good hockey team. But we managed our emotions and worked our way through it. We did a little problem solving and got back to it. The credit goes to our players.” – Regina Pats Assistant Coach Ken Schneider
FULL POST-GAME INTERVIEW WITH KEN SCHNEIDER
FINAL SCORE: Pats 5, Blades 3
Click for the Official WHL Box Score
THE GOALS
First Period
No scoring.
Second Period
1-0 Pats at 3:51 – Corban Almen (1), assisted by Keagan Slaney & Carson Haynes // The Pats broke in on an odd-man rush and Almen let a wrist shot fly that beat Elliott blocker side to give the 16-year-old rookie his first career goal as the Pats a 1-0 lead.
2-0 Pats at 6:57 – Aaron Krestanowich (1), assisted by Jaxsin Vaughan // The Pats won an offensive zone face-off and the puck ended up on Krestanowich’s stick, and he let a point shot rip that beat a screened Elliott to give the Pats a 2-0 lead with his first career goal.
3-0 Pats at 10:21 – Corban Almen (2), assisted by Jaxsin Vaughan & Dru Mushumanski // The kid line was at it again as they controlled the puck in the offensive zone. Elliott made a stop but had trouble with the rebound and Almen buried his second of the game to give the Pats a 3-0 lead midway through the contest.
3-1 Blades at 14:22 – Hudson Kibblewhite (1), assisted by Vaughn Watterodt & Player // Pyne stopped the Blades’ first attempt and the puck ended up behind the Pats’ net where Kibblewhite threw the puck toward the net and it bounced in off Pyne to get the Blades on the board, now trailing 3-1.
3-2 Blades at 17:24 – Easton Armstrong (8), assisted by Egor Sidorov & Trevor Wong (PP) // Armstrong came in on a rush and from the right circle, he let a wrist shot go that beat Pyne far side, post-and-in to pull the Blades to within one at 3-2 late in the second frame.
Third Period
4-2 Pats at 6:27 – Tanner Howe (9), assisted by Sam Oremba & Zackary Shantz // On a partial odd-man rush, Howe jammed away at the puck, and after a review, it was deemed that the puck crossed the line and gave the Pats a 4-2 lead.
4-3 Blades at 18:52 – Brandon Lisowsky (8), assisted by Easton Armstrong & Trevor Wong // With the Blades net empty, they controlled the puck in the Pats zone where Lisowsky found himself in the deep slot and his wrist shot somehow eluded everything and Pyne to pull Saskatoon to within one at 4-3.
5-3 Pats at 19:38 – Jaxsin Vaughan (1), assisted by Tanner Howe (EN) // Howe won a board battle just inside the Pats zone and the puck squirted to Jaxsin Vaughan who whacked at the puck and it headed directly for the empty net to seal the deal for the Queen City Kids at 5-3.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 12-8-8-28 | Saskatoon – 9-19-7-35
PP: Regina – 0/0 | Saskatoon – 1/4
Face-offs: Regina – 40 | Saskatoon – 30
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne ( 32 saves / 35 shots)
Saskatoon: Austin Elliott ( 24 saves / 28 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Corban Almen – Pats (2G)
Second: Kelton Pyne – Pats (32 saves in the win)
Third: Tanner Howe – Pats (1G-1A)
JUST NOTES
- Corban Almen scored his first career WHL goal early in the second period and followed up with his second one less than seven minutes later.
- Aaron Krestanowich scored his first career goal midway through the second period,
- Carson Haynes collected his first point as a Pat on the team’s first goal (which happened to be Almen’s first career marker).
- Jaxsin Vaughan had his first career multi-point game with a goal and two-assist effort while scoring his first goal of the season.
- Tanner Howe has points in four straight contests (2G-6A) and has points in 12 of 14 games on the season.
- Zackary Shantz has points in back-to-back games (1G-1A) for the first time in his career.
- The Pats have won five consecutive home games.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Pats continue their four-game homestand with a battle against the Prince George Cougars on Sunday, October 29 with a 4:00 pm puck drop. Get your tickets HERE.
