Regina 3 Swift Current 2 (OT)
How do you convince the team that you are about to face in the first round of the WHL playoffs, that you are not the same team they handled four times previously? Well for the Regina Pats (40-25-5-1), winning 3-2 in overtime at home against the Swift Current Broncos (47-17-5-2) is a start.
Beating them in Swift Current tomorrow would further that message that was delivered Friday.
The Broncos will be hoping to turn around their fortunes of late as they now are mired in a four game losing streak during the time of year you really don’t want to get used to losing.
The Pats, meanwhile have won seven in-a-row now.
The Broncos got on the board first in this one though with a power play goal from Mattteo Gennaro. He one-timed home a feed from Giorgio Estephan for his 42nd this year.
Sam Steel and the Pats got that one back on a power play of their own a couple minutes later. The Pats were two men up and Josh Mahura and Steel took their time setting up the perfect look for one of them. Steel took the pass from Mahura and skated in before powering a shot by Swift Current goalie Joel Hofer.
Hofer stopped 29 of 32 in his first action since March 10th.
Jared Legien gave the Pats their first lead of the game with 5:54 left in the second. He took a nice pass from Brady Pouteau and beat Hofer through the five-hole while being dragged down.
The player that was pulling Legien down, Artyom Minulin ended up knotting the score at two with 7:02 left in regulation – forcing overtime. This goal was the third of four scored in regulation that came on the power play.
Then in that extra session, Nick Henry provided the heroics and kept Regina’s win streak alive.
He played give-and-go with Matt Bradley, before using his speed to get in on Hofer, before beating him. The goal was Henry’s 14th this year.
Max Paddock earned yet another win by stopping 31 of 33.
Swift Current is 4-0-1-0 vs Regina this year, outscoring them 18-10.
They finish the home-and-home in Swift Current on Saturday.
Tri-City 2 @Spokane 1
The Tri-City Americans (37-24-8-1) helped add another wrinkle to the rivalry they have with the Spokane Chiefs (39-25-3-3). By beating them 2-1 on Friday night behind two points each from Juuso Valimaki and Michael Rasmussen and 36 saves on 37 shots by Patrick Dea, the Americans kept alive their hopes of remaining in the U.S. Division bracket, stealing the third seed their from the Chiefs and relegating their rivals to a tough road trip through the B.C. bracket.
Dea, who continued his stellar of late by winning his fifth straight start, has done so with his competitor in net – Beck Warm sidelined.
Rasmussen got Tri-City on the board first with yet another power play goal. This was his 17th on the man advantage – which is over half of his 30 total goals. 
He scored by taking a pass from Morgan Geekie and used a screen to beat Spokane goalie Bailey Brkin.
Valimaki then put the Americans up 2-0 in the third period. He drove at the net and tipped a hard pass from Rasmussen for his 14th this year.
With 11:16 left in the third period Eli Zummack got the Chiefs close with a power play marker. He tipped a pass from Filip Kral for his 15th of the year. They would get no closer.
-The two finish their home-and-home weekend in Kennewick on Saturday.
-Tri-City is now 5-2-4-0 vs Spokane, while the Chiefs are 6-3-1-1 against the Americans.
-The Americans have won five straight, while the Chiefs have dropped four in-a-row.
If Tri-City beats Spokane on Saturday in Kennewick in regulation, they will leapfrog the Chiefs and take the number three seed in the U.S. Division. Both teams have one game left after that one though as the Chiefs play in Portland Sunday and the Americans host Seattle that day as well.
Everett 3 Victoria 2
The Everett Silvertips (46-20-2-3) continued their dominance over the B.C. Division with a 3-2 home, regular season finale win over the visiting Victoria Royals (39-26-4-2).
Luke Ormsby provided the difference making goal with 15:10 left in the third period after Noah Gregor had tied the game up earlier in the final frame.
Carter Hart stopped 20 of 22 in the win, while Griffen Outhouse turned away 41 of 44.
-The two finish off their home-and-home series with a game in Victoria Saturday. If Everett gets a single point in that game, they will lock up the U.S. Division and the top seed in the Western Conference.
-Everett won 9-4 at home and lost 5-0 in Victoria the two previous games played between these two.
