Regina 5 Prince Albert 4 (OT)
Sam Steel and Josh Mahura had the Regina Pats (27-22-5-0) sitting pretty midway through the third period. The Pats were up against their East Division rivals the Prince Albert Raiders (21-20-9-2) 4-1.
Then the Raiders scored three times in the last 7:30 of regulation and earned a point in Regina. The Pats collected themselves and got the extra point behind Cameron Hebig’s overtime winner, but it was a close call.
Steel had two goals and two assists and Mahura had a goal and an assist. Ryan Kubic was also good for 33 saves on 37 shots in the Pats net. Regina kept pace with the Brandon What Kings, who also won in overtime and remain four points behind them for third in the East Division. They also extend their lead for the first wild card spot to six points over the Raiders, who are tied for the second wild card spot with Saskatoon.
Emil Oksanen opened the scoring with the first of four, second period goals for the Pats. He navigated traffic and pulled the puck to his forehand, before beating Raiders goalie Ian Scott.
Steel then doubled his team’s lead as he was the only one who tracked a point shot by Liam Schioler and he backhanded a wraparound by a surprised Scott.
P.A. finally found the scoresheet when Brett Leason drove the net hard and wired a shot by Kubic,
Steel then netted the fourth goal of the game in under four minutes as, while on the power play, he skated in and beat Scott from inside the left faceoff dot.
Mahura gave the Pats their three-goal lead later in the frame as he drove the net hard and took a feed from behind the net by Steel, while on the man advantage.
The Raiders then roared to life in the third. Regan Nagy started the spree with 7:30 left and Parker Kelly cut the lead to two just 15 seconds later.
Then with Scott pulled for an extra attacker, Kody McDonald redirected a low shot from Jordy Stallard by Kubic with 38 seconds left in regulation.
The Raiders comeback would not have the happy ending though as Hebig netted the winner with 37 seconds left in the extra frame. Steel made a great play at the Raiders blue line to break up an outlet pass, then found a wide open Hebig with a nice pass for the winner.
Regina is back in action next Wednesday in Brandon. P.A. hosts Kootenay that same night.
Vancouver 5 Medicine Hat 4
The Medicine Hat Tigers (26-22-7-0) have had a rough go of things on their B.C. Division road trip. They dropped their fourth straight in the Western Province 5-4 to the Vancouver Giants (28-16-5-3) in Langley.
They have seen their once massive lead for tops in the Central Division over the Lethbridge Hurricanes whittle down to three points with the ‘Canes having thee games in hand.
Saturday at the Langley Events Centre, the Giants got two point nights from each of Ty Ronning, James Malm, Dawson Holt and Brayden Watts and 38 of 42 shots stopped by David Tendeck to lead them to victory.
Tyler Popowich opened the scoring in the first with his sixth of the year. Then after Dalton Gally tied the game in the second, Bowen Byram (his third goal in two games) and Ty Ronning (his 47th this year) put the Giants up by two.
Gary Haden and Elijah Brown scored later in the middle frame to tie the game up again, this time at three.
In the third though, Holt netted his ninth and after Dylan MacPherson tied the game again, Alex Kannok Leipert netted the winner with 3:06 left.
Michael Bullion stopped 19 of 22 in relief of Jordan Hollett, who turned away 15 of 17.
The Giants next play in Kelowna on Wednesday, while the Tigers head home to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Calgary 6 @Kamloops 5 (SO)
The Kamloops Blazers (24-24-1-3) had the Calgary Hitmen (16-30-5-1) on the ropes. Behind two goals from Nick Chyzowski and markers from Jermaine Loewen, Joe Gatenby and Ryley Appelt (his second ever in the WHL), the Blazers were up 5-2 with under five minutes left in regulation.
Then Dakota Krebs and Egor Zamula scored their first goals of the year (Zamula’s on the power play) and Jakob Stukel netted his 26th and this one was sent to an unexpected overtime.
Kamloops carried possession in the extra session but a miscue led Calgary to a power play that Jake Kryski nearly scored on.
What followed was a shootout that had both Kryski and Carson Focht beat Dylan Ferguson, while Matthew Armitage did not allow either Brodi Stuart or Orrin Centazzo to beat him.
Calgary took the game 6-5 in the shootout. Armitage stopped 36 of 41 and earned his first ever WHL win.
Kryski may have gotten a little extra joy in scoring the SO winner as the former Blazer was booed by many in attendance at the Sandman Centre as he collected the puck at center ice.
Kamloops next hosts the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, while the Hitmen head to Red Deer for a Central Division game that same night.
