It took a while for the action to get going Sunday night in Regina, but the 5688 in attendance were treated to a wild finish.
The scoring didn’t open until the five minute mark of the second period. The Rebels’ Chase Leslie grabbed a loose puck at his own blue line and led a 2-on-1, where he opted to shoot and subsequently scored on Max Paddock.
(Photo – Regina Pats)
The Pats tied up the game later in the period when recently signed Zach Smith scored his first career WHL goal. The goal was essentially a power-play goal, as the puck crossed the line just after the power play expired. Smith was the lucky recipient of two bounces, first off a stick, then off the face of Christopher Sedoff and into the net.
There wouldn’t be anymore scoring until late in the third period. Josh Tarzwell grabbed a loose puck from a Cameron Hausinger face-off win and deposited a quick shot past Paddock. Before everyone could hit the exits, the hero in Red Deer just two weeks earlier, struck again. Austin Pratt scored with 41 seconds remaining to even it up and send the game to overtime.
The Pats had pulled Paddock in favour for the extra attacker prior to the tying goal. The Rebels then had a chance at the open net but a great back check by Logan Nijhoff and Zack Wytinck prevented a possible insurance goal. Which then directly led to the tying goal.
It didn’t take long in the extra frame to decide the winner. The Pats had one good chance off the stick of Robbie Holmes. Then the Rebels’ Dawson Barteaux set up Arshdeep Bains nicely as Barteaux left the puck behind the net. Paddock was looking the wrong way as Bains wrapped the puck around and in.
Despite the loss the Pats’ Austin Pratt was upbeat about the game saying “there’s a lot of positives to take away from today. We battled hard, everyone played hard, played their best and, it’s just one of those games where it didn’t go your way. It could easily gone our way with the cross bars (hit) but same with them. They had good chances that could have went in too, so it’s just one of those games.”
Pats Stats
Both teams were unsuccessful on the power play. Regina was 0-for-5 and Red Deer 0-for-2.
Byron Fancy made 25 saves on 27 shots to pick up the win.
Logan Nijhoff‘s five game point streak came to an end.
Austin Pratt continues to lead the Pats in goals scored with eight and total points with 15.
The Pats’ power play has not scored in three straight games.
