Pats Begin Final Week Against Raiders
Head-to-Head
The Regina Pats (38-25-3-3) and the Prince Albert Raiders (33-31-3-2) go head-to-head in their final meeting of the season in this crucial final week of the Regular Season. It’s the eighth time the teams have tangled this season with the Pats holding a 2-4-1-0 record against the Raiders. Their previous meeting saw the Blue and White come away with a 5-4 shootout victory in Prince Albert. Chandler Stephenson leads the Pats with seven points (1G, 6A) against Prince Albert this season. Josh Morrissey has over one sixth of his points on the season against Regina with 12 (4G, 8A) on the year. Coming into tonight’s contest, the Pats split a pair of road games on the weekend and are 7-3-0-0 in their last ten. The Raiders had a four game winning streak snapped last night with a 5-3 loss to the Moose Jaw Warriors. This evening’s game can be heard on 620 CKRM starting at 6:35 p.m. CST
Kyle Burroughs Collector Cups
Tonight is the final Collector Cup giveaway of the season. This cup features Captain Kyle Burroughs with the first 2,500 fans at the Brandt Centre able to pick theirs up on the concourse. The fourth Pats Collector Cup is presented by SaskMilk.
Accomplishments Honoured
Before tonight’s game the Pats will honour four players for reaching the milestone of playing 250 games in the WHL. They will also honour four long-time volunteers as Regina Pats Builders ahead of puck drop.
Lead Up: Pats Slip in 3-1 Loss to Ice
Jagger Dirk opened the scoring early in the first period and that would be the only marker until the third. Midway through the final frame, with the Pats in the box for a too many men penalty, Luke Philp struck on the powerplay to give the Ice a cushion. Morgan Klimchuk cut the lead to one with three minutes left and Connor Gay nearly tied things up, but Mackenzie Skapski flashed out his pad to save the game for Kootenay. Jaedon Descheneau removed doubt scoring an empty netter from his own end to send the Ice to a 3-1 win.
Playoff Picture
The final week of the Regular Season holds many different scenarios as the playoffs approach. The Pats could play as many as six different teams in the first round of the playoffs. The Blue and White sit three points ahead of the Swift Current Broncos for the division lead with two Pats wins, two Broncos losses or a split between the two clinch the Pats the division crown. The Raiders are part of a battle for the 7th and 8th conference seeds against Red Deer and Brandon.
Stay Out of the Box
The Raiders powerplay has had the Pats’ number all season. Prince Albert has at least one powerplay goal in all seven previous meetings and are 19/34 (55.9%) with the man advantage against Regina. This means the Pats’ penalty kill has a 77.1% success rate against the rest of the league as opposed to its overall of 73.6%. On the other side of the coin, the Raiders haven’t scored an even strength goal against the Pats in their last 123:53 of head-to-head action.
Who to Watch on Prince Albert
There’s no guaranteeing he’ll get the start in Regina tonight, but rookie goaltender Nick McBride is having a stellar start to his WHL career. The 1997-born puck stopper has a 2.95 GAA and 0.908 SV% and has taken over the starting gig for the Raiders on their run towards the post season starting six of the Raiders’ last seven games.
Upcoming Schedule
vs. Brandon – Friday, March 14th, 7:00 p.m. – Brandt Centre (CKRM)
at Brandon – Saturday, March 15th, 7:00 p.m. – Westman Place (CKRM)
Stat Book
Milestones
Games Played
250 – Dyson Stevenson played the 250th game of his WHL career March 7th at Lethbridge
200 – Morgan Klimchuk has played 198 games in his WHL career
Statistical
100 – Morgan Klimchuk tallied 100th assist of his WHL career March 7th at Lethbridge
41 – Morgan Klimchuk set a new career high with his 41st assist of the season March 7th at Lethbridge
