Keith Hershmiller
Eastern Division

Blades powerplay shreds Pats in 5-4 win

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

In the first meeting between the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats since October 24, 2021 (a 4-1 Blades win), the Blades went 4-for-5 on the powerplay in a 5-4 win over the Pats before an announced attendance of 3,055 at the Brandt Centre.

Jayden Weins and Kyle Crnkovic each scored twice for the Blades in the win. Brandon Lisowsky also scored for the Blades who moved to 22-15-1-1 on the season. Cole Dubinsky and Connor Bedard each notched a pair of goals for the Pats who lost their third straight game.

Les Lazaruk’s 2,000th WHL game as a play-by-play announcer. Wednesday, February 2, 2022 Blades at Pats. (Keith Hershmiller)

The Pats paid tribute to Blades play-by-play announcer Les Lazaruk who called his 2,000th WHL game.

“Clearly, we need some better [penalty killing, but] it’s not the system on the penalty kill,” Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said after the Pats recent play. “It’s some individual brain cramps that are really hurting us on the penalty kill and we need to get that stopped.”

“We kinda gave them their goals again,” Pats captain Logan Nijhoff said of the Pats’ recent penalty woes. “For the most part, I thought we played really well and our breakdowns cost us.”

Jaylen Weins (Blades) directs a shot at Matthew Kieper (Pats). February 2, 2022 (Keith Hershmiller)

Weins (13th) opened the scoring for the Blades just 3:45 into the first period when he got behind the Pats defense and chipped a shot past Pats’ starting goalie Drew Sim.

Sim was replaced by Matthew Kieper at 17:02 of the first period after he collided with his own teammate as he was making a play. He left the game after stopping 8-of-9 Blades shots.

The Pats got back into the game and then proceeded to take the lead late in the first period when Bedard (21st) with a beauty and Dubinsky (11th) scored 12 seconds apart at 17:49 and 18:01 of the first to give the Pats a 2-1 lead heading into the opening intermission.

The Pats took a 14-10 shot advantage into the first break.

Pats defender Parker Berge took a double-minor for high sticking late in the first period and the four-minute penalty kill carried over into the second. That’s when the Blades second-ranked powerplay struck.

Just 22 seconds into the second period Weins (14th) notched his second of the game to put things on even terms when he buried a rebound past Kieper. The goal came with 12 seconds left in the first part of the four-minute penalty the Blades remained on the man advantage. Lisowsky (22nd) scored 43 seconds later (at 1:05) to restore the Blades’ one-goal on a brilliant passing play by the potent Blades’ powerplay.

Dubinsky (12th) got the Pats back even when he puts a backhand shot the Nolan Maier and the puck sneaks past the Blades goaler to knot things at 3-3 at 3:09 of the second.

The Pats finally connected with a powerplay goal of their own to give them a 4-3 lead as Bedard (22nd) fired home his second of the game past a screened Maier at the 6:59 mark of the second.

The Blades were afforded another powerplay with one minute remaining in the middle 40 minutes and they made the Pats pay. With 25 seconds left in the second period, Crnkovic (24th) fired home a one-time again knotting things up. The teams went into the second intermission tied a 4-4 and the Pats held a slight lead on the shot clock 25-22 overall

Things were relatively even in the third period until you guessed it, the Pats took a late penalty and you know what happened next? The Blades’ powerplay struck for gold once again as Crnkovic (25th) buried his second of the game giving the Blades a 5-4 lead at 18:10.

Blades captain Tristen Robins took a slashing penalty with 55 seconds left in the game giving the Pats a late powerplay, and with Kieper on the bench for the extra attacker the Pats were unable to penetrate the Saskatoon defense and the Blades held on to a 5-4 win. Saskatoon outshot Regina 9-5 in the third period and 31-30 overall.

“It’s obviously nice to see a couple get in the net,” Dubinsky said of his pair of goals. “But, I’d rather see the win than see us giving away games, it’s starting to get really old and really frustrating. For us to make this push for the playoffs, we have to cut this out now.”

Nolan Maier made 26 stops on 30 Pats shots in the win. Kieper stopped 18 of 22 shots in 41:14 of relief for the Pats.

Patterings: The Pats have recently run into injury problems as Zack Stringer (indefinite), Adam McNutt (indefinite), Zane Rowan (3-4 weeks), and Jakob Brook (4-6 weeks) were listed as long term injuries, joining Jake Johnson on the Injured list… Jaxsin Vaughan made his third appearance in a Pats uniform… Crnkovic (2G-1A) was named first-star… Dubinsky (2G) was named second-star… Brandon Lisowsky (1G-2A) was the game’s third star. The Pats are now heading on the road to Alberta where they are scheduled to play Lethbridge (Feb. 4), Calgary (Feb. 6), and Edmonton (Feb. 8). The Pats next home action is scheduled for February 11th versus the visiting Calgary Hitmen.