Cooper’s Trick Can’t Lift Pats
Regina, Saskatchewan – The Regina Pats (25-14-2-1) ended a five game home stand facing off with the Prince Albert Raiders (19-23-1-0) and fell 6-5 in a wild finish.
The first period proved to be incredibly eventful with seven combined goals scored between the Pats and Raiders. The Regina powerplay had an opportunity early, but Austin Glover opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal for Prince Albert. Following their man advantage, the Pats responded as Adam Brooks found Colby Williams on a two-on-one to tie the game. On the powerplay again, Kris Schmidli continued the shorthanded attack, breaking away and getting the puck around Tyler Brown for the Raiders’ second shorthanded goal of the period. The Pats got it right back as Taylor Cooper picked a rebound out of the air and into the net for his first as a Pat. Just 9:05 into the contest the score sat 2-2. The Raiders grabbed the lead again when Schmidli pulled the puck into an open lane and fired a shot. The puck bounced off Brown, into Connor Hobbs and back into the goal. Prince Albert added some insurance when Dalton Yorke’s point shot was tipped by Tim Vanstone in front for a 4-2 lead with 3:53 left in the period. The Pats cut the lead back down to one when Cooper picked up his second powerplay marker of the game to put the score to 4-3 Prince Albert through twenty. Shots favoured the Raiders 12-9 after one.
The second saw fresh netminders for both teams as Tyler Fuhr checked in for Regina and Rylan Parenteau for Prince Albert. Parenteau settled things down for the Raiders, making 12 saves in the frame including a few brilliant stops to keep the Pats off the boards. The visitors rewarded their netminder with some goal support. Jayden Hart scored on the powerplay getting free in front and Crag Leverton followed up on a rebound to bang it by the Pats goalie for a 6-3 Raider lead after two periods. Shots through forty minutes sat 21-21 between the squads.
The Pats waited until late to mount a comeback try. With Parenteau playing lights out, the Blue and White caught a break when the Prince Albert goaltender lost the puck in his skates. It rolled into the crease for Adam Brooks to tap it in with just 3:16 left. Things got very interesting when Cooper completed his hat-trick jamming a puck in on the doorstep with 53 seconds remaining. The Pats push would fall short after Austin Wagner had a chance blocked in the slot and the scoreboard listed a 6-5 final score for the Raiders. Final shots heavily favoured the Pats, 39-26.
The Pats head out on the road for a four game Alberta road swing starting Wednesday night in Medicine Hat. Tune into that action starting at 7:35 on 620 CKRM and WHL Live Web TV.
