Padakin Gets the Teddy Bears Airborne
Regina, Saskatchewan – The Regina Pats (17-10-1-0) solved the Brandon Wheat Kings (21-6-2-0) Wednesday night, winning over their divisional rivals by a 4-2 score.
The opening frame saw the Pats earn chance after chance, but the Blue and White misfired on their opportunities and were unable to find the “Teddy Bear Goal” in the early going. Brandon got some push back, but Goalie of the Month Daniel Wapple was there to turn back the Wheat Kings. At the other end of the ice, Jordan Papirny did his job to hold the Pats off the score sheet. Pavel Padakin did get pucks behind Papirny on two occasions, but his first was stopped on the goal line and his second an illegal kick into the net. The score sat tied 0-0 after twenty and the shots favoured the Pats 9-7.
Midway into the second period, Padakin carved out his portion of hockey lore. The import forward stripped a Brandon defender of the puck, powered out in front of the net and beat Papirny with a backhand to bring in the teddy bears. For Padakin, it was the third time in as many years he had scored the “Teddy Bear Goal” after scoring the previous two years in Calgary. After cleaning the bears off the ice the Pats added another with just over three minutes left in the frame. Sam Steel’s shot deflected off a skate, then a Brandon stick and into the goal for a 2-0 lead. That was short lived as Peter Quenneville got a fluke of his own when he fired off two Pats and behind Wapple to cut the lead back to one seconds later. The Blue and White carried the 2-1 lead into the final frame leading the shots 26-17.
Looking for their second win over a conference leader, the Pats increased their edge. Rykr Cole busted into the zone before taking a hit to feed Adam Brooks who dumped off to Padakin. The overager was stopped by Papirny, but nobody caught Cole heading to the net and the Moosomin product buried his second of the season 6:46 into the period. That goal proved to be key as the Wheaties again found a tying goal off the stick of the eldest Quenneville brother, this time on a bullet of a one-timer at 11:18 of the frame. That would be as close as the visitors would come. In the final moments, with the net empty, Morgan Klimchuk opened up Steel for the empty netter and his first multi-goal game in the WHL. The Pats finalized the count at 4-2 with the shot clock sitting 41-28 for the home side.
The Queen City Kids try for their fifth straight victory and second over the Wheat Kings Friday night in Brandon. Tune in to the contest on 620 CKRM starting at 7:05 p.m. or WHL Live Webcast. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m.
