RECAP: Steel and Henry push Pats into Mastercard Memorial Cup Semi-Final

The Regina Pats outlasted the Swift Current Broncos 6-5 on Wednesday night to advance to the semi-final at the Mastercard Memorial Cup. Regina opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from Nick Henry in the first, his third of the tournament and it was 1-0 after one. In the second, Cameron Hebig extended the lead to 2-0 with his third, but Swift Current responded thanks to Glenn Gawdin to cut the lead in half. The Pats restored the two goal lead with a shorthanded goal from Nick Henry, his second of the night to make it 3-1. Swift Current got it back on the same powerplay, however Nick Henry would complete his hattrick late in the period and it was 4-2 Regina heading to the third. The Pats got it to a 5-2 lead when Bryce Platt finished off a nice move in front for his first before the Broncos scored two straight to get within a goal. Libor Hajek made it 6-4 Regina with his first, a powerplay goal with 1:37 remaining but again the Broncos came back with a powerplay goal to close the gap to 6-5. The Pats held on from there and advance to Friday’s semi-final against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Sam Steel tied a Memorial Cup record with a five assist performance while Nick Henry had three points and Max Paddock made 26 saves.

Scoring Summary
First Period
Regina – Nick Henry (3) from Sam Steel and Josh Mahura – 7:36 PP.

Second Period
Regina – Cameron Hebig (3) from Sam Steel and Josh Mahura – 10:29 PP.
Swift Current – Glenn Gawdin (1) from Aleksi Heponiemi and Artyom Minulin – 11:46.
Regina – Nick Henry (4) from Sam Steel – 16:09 SH.
Swift Current – Beck Malenstyn (1) from Glenn Gawdin and Artyom Minulin – 16:32 PP.
Regina – Nick Henry (5) from Sam Steel – 17:35.

Third Period
Regina – Bryce Platt (1) from Matt Bradley and Cameron Hebig – 10:43.
Swift Current – Aleksi Heponiemi (1) from Giorgio Estephan and Sahvan Khaira – 14:22.
Swift Current – Giorgio Estephan (3) from Aleksi Heponiemi and Beck Malenstyn – 17:11.
Regina – Libor Hajek (1) from Sam Steel and Robbie Holmes – 18:23 PP.
Swift Current – Glenn Gawdin (2) from Aleksi Heponiemi and Colby Sissons – 19:10 PP.

Shots on Goal
Regina 11-11-6-(28)    Swift Current 8-15-9-(31)

Powerplays
Regina 3/5      Swift Current 2/5

Quick Hits
– Sam Steel tied a Mastercard Memorial Cup record with five assists in a single game.
– Steel leads the tournament after the round robin with 11 points in three games.
– Nick Henry scored three times and leads the tournament with five goals.

What’s Next
The Pats will take on the Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night in the semi-final at 8 p.m. with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. Tickets are available at mastercardmemorialcup.ca.