The Winnipeg ICE hit the road on Thursday afternoon to Saskatchewan for their first three-in-three of the year.
An undoubtedly daunting task was at hand. On Friday, they dealt with task number one, and that was beating the Saskatoon Blades.
Task number two was trying to find a way to get a couple of points from a very good Prince Albert team. Although they didn’t fully complete that mission, they half did. The club earned one point in a 3-2 overtime loss.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, and the task at hand became getting some points from the Regina Pats to end their weekend. Step three was a mission that was completed fully. Backed by a wonderful performance from Carson Lambos, the ICE secured a 5-2 win at the Brandt Centre.
That means Winnipeg earned five out of six points over the weekend.
“It was a big success for our team this weekend,” said Carson Lambos after the game. “Whenever you can come out with five points of a possible six, it’s a big positive.” Quotes courtesy of winnipegice.ca
“We came out ready to go, and we stuck to the system,” he added. “We just capitalized when we had our chances. Regina is tough but we played well.”
Lambos, who’s only 16 years old, opened the scoring 12:00 into the first period of play. The power-play goal was assisted by Connor McClennon and Owen Pederson.
With a power play of their own late in the frame, the Pats got right back in it. Robbie Holmes’ second goal of the season tied the contest up. Austin Pratt and Kyle Walker picked up the assists.
Tied at one very late in the first, Winnipeg’s import draft selections continued to do great things. Two nights after Nino Kinder scored three goals and Michal Teply scored once, Teply was at it again. He scored his fourth of the season with just 1:16 left in the first. Fellow import selection Kinder earned the primary assist, while Benjamin Zloty picked up the second.
The game stayed 2-1 in favor of Winnipeg for some time, until Regina tied it up late in the second. Austin Pratt scored his second goal of the season with just 1:31 left in the second. Robbie Holmes added an assist as did Garrett Wright.
After scoring twice in the first, Winnipeg didn’t score in the second.
Tied at two early in the third, it was time for Lambos to make another impact play. On a pass from goaltender Will Gurski, Lambos scored his second of the season and game. The marker ended up being the game-winning tally at the 2:07 mark.
Speaking of Will Gurski, he picked up his first Western Hockey League win in net for Winnipeg. He made 19 saves on 21 shots.
Up 3-2 in their final game of the weekend, Winnipeg didn’t stop there. Cole Muir added an unassisted insurance marker just over four minutes after Lambos scored the winner.
Back on the power play a little bit later, 20-year-old Isaac Johnson lit the lamp with his second of the season at the 11:49 mark. Mike Ladyman and Reece Harsch got the assists.
From there, Winnipeg locked it down defensively and skated off with a hard earned two points to cap off their weekend.
“There were a number of times on the bench when players were calling out what should be done, so that was really positive,” said James Patrick. “It was much better than last Saturday at home. It’s all a part of the growing and learning process.”
Winnipeg now heads home, and they won’t play again until next weekend at the Wayne Fleming Arena. On Friday, they welcome Edmonton to town, while Vancouver visits Winnipeg on Saturday.
At 3-1-1, Winnipeg is in a tie with Prince Albert for first in the East Division at this point. Regina, meanwhile, is off to a less than desirable start at 1-3. They are last in the East Division after the second weekend of regular season play. They’ve also given up 17 goals, which is tied for last in the league with one other team. Ironically, that other team is Winnipeg.
Regina stays at home for a game on Friday against Medicine Hat. They’re in Prince Albert on Saturday and Moose Jaw on Sunday.
ICE CHIPS:
- Both teams went 2-for-4 on the man advantage. Winnipeg went 4-for-10 total on the weekend.
- Neither team hit double digit shots in a period. Winnipeg went 7,9,9 while Regina went 8,9,4.
- Regina edged Winnipeg on the faceoff dot by winning 30-of-58.
- This was the last meeting between the two teams until November 9 back at the Wayne Fleming Arena.
