Tight Contest Goes to the Broncos
Regina, Saskatchewan – The Regina Pats (5-8-1-0) hosted their tenth annual Breast Cancer Awareness Night with the Swift Current Broncos (9-7-0-1) in town. The Broncos took the contest, 2-1.
First Period
After the Pats honoured breast cancer survivors prior to puck drop, ‘Funding the Fight’ took on new meaning as gloves came off. First Kyle Burroughs and Carter Rigby tussled and they were followed by Rykr Cole and Cavin Leth dropping the mitts. With an extra two minutes going the way of Cole, the Broncos opened the scoring on the powerplay. The puck came out in front of the goal and Jake DeBrusk was able to get it over the goal line to give Swift Current the lead. Once again, the Pats earned some great chances, but couldn’t notch a goal and went to the break down 1-0. The Broncos led the shot count 10-9.
Second Period
Regina came out flying in the second period and kept it up the whole twenty minutes. The Blue and White fired 16 shots on goal to the Broncos 9 in the frame. Sam Steel nearly tied the game on the powerplay when his snap shot found the post behind Landon Bow. After Pavel Padakin took a big hit to make a play, Sam Steel’s shot redirected to Sergey Zborovskiy who lanced his first WHL goal to the back of the net. With the game tied, the Pats penalty kill came up with a big stop and turned away both Bronco powerplay chances in the second. The score stayed deadlocked 1-1 through forty minutes with the Pats taking over the shot lead, 25-19 overall.
Third Period
The Pats continued to attack in the third period, but it would be the Broncos who scored the go ahead goal. The visitors dug the puck off the boards and Brett Lernout fired from the point. The puck found its way through a crowd in front and hit the back of the net. In the final minute, the Blue and White had a chance 6-on-4 looking to tie the game, but couldn’t generate an equalizer. With zeroes on the clock, the score remained 2-1 Swift Current. The Pats outshot the Broncos 40-27 after sixty minutes and killed 6/7 Swift Current powerplays.
The Pats return to action tomorrow night against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca, the Brandt Centre Box Office or Regina Safeway locations.
