Keith Hershmiller
Eastern Division

Pats beat Warriors 7-1 in chippy contest

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

The aftermath of Luke Bateman and Tate Schofer colliding – January 16, 2022 (Keith Hershmiller)

After a 15 day break from action, the Regina Pats showed no rust as they beat the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-1 in a chippy affair played before an announced crowd of 3,199 at the Brandt Centre in Regina.

Tanner Howe led the charge for the Pats with a pair of goals in the win. Jakob Brook, Connor Bedard (water bottle breaking, game-winning goal), Zack Stringer, Cole Carrier, and Drew Englot scored for the Pats. Jagger Firkus replied with a powerplay marker for the Warriors who were playing their third game in three days. The teams combined for nine post or crossbars hit, with the Warriors hitting six of them.

“We got Moose Jaw at the right time playing a 3-in-3,” Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock said. “But you have to take advantage of it. You have to play the right way and take advantage of it. You play the right way, you get rewarded for it. So it’s a good lesson for us to keep playing right.”

“It’s going out and executing,” Paddock commented about the Pats’ play. “Just do the right things. It’s what the other team is trying to do too. I said the other day: I like our team, I like our players, but you have to go out and play. You have to play right.”

First Period

Regina opened the scoring just 2:44 into the contest when Brook notched his second of the campaign. Tom Cadieux’s point shot was redirected in front to Easton Armstrong wh tried a backhand that got over to Brook who put it home as he was being cross-checked into the Warrior cage.

Just over three minutes later, Bedard added to the Pats lead on the powerplay. Bedard ripped home his 19th goal of the season taking out Jackson Unger’s water bottle in the process. Logan Nijhoff picked up the first assist as he fed the puck to Bedard who made no mistake Tanner Howe picked up the second assist as the Pats lead increased to 2-0 5:54 into the first period.

 

Bedard fed a pass toward the Warrior zone and the puck somehow got past the defense where Stringer picked up the loose puck and beat Unger top shelf. Stringer’s seventh of the season increased the Pats lead to 3-0 at 7:28 of the opening twenty, Ryker added a secondary assist.

The Pats connected on a second powerplay at 11:53 when Howe ripped home his second attempt at a one-timer from the top of the circle on a pass from Evans. Howe’s 13th of the season increased the Pats’ lead to four goals at 4-0. Bedard added his second assist and third point of the game.

After the fourth goal, the Warriors made a goalie change as Unger was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. Carl Tetachuk was called into duty for the third consecutive game.

The Warriors seemed to receive a spark in the later stages of the first period and capitalized on a man advantage.

Firkus cut the Pats lead to three when he scored on the powerplay. He one-time home a pass from Ryder Korczak who had won the battle beside the Pat net. His 21st goal got the Warriors on the board, trailing 4-1 at 15:31 of the opening period.

The Pats headed into the first intermission up 4-1 and up 14-6 on the shot clock.

Second Period

Just 47 seconds into the second period, the Pats increased their lead to 5-1 as Carrier scored. Parker Berge’s point shot bounced off the back boards to Carrier who was johnny-on-the-spot and buried his 12th of the season.

 

The Pats increased their lead to 6-1 with less than three minutes left in the middle forty minutes. The Pats’ powerplay was back to work. Evans fed Howe a pass in which the 16-year-old forward one-timed it home for his 14th of the season.

The Pats had a 6-1 lead and 27-12 shot clock advantage through the opening two periods.

Third Period

Englot received a pass along the center ice red line, took the puck with speed, and put a backhand on the Warrior net and the puck somehow squeaked through Tetachuk to give the Pats a 7-1 lead at 6:16 of the third period.

The Pats out the Warriors 12-10 in the third period and 39-22 overall.

Matthew Kieper makes a glove save against the Moose Jaw Warriors as Layton Feist watches on – January 16, 2022 (Keith Hershmiller)

Matthew Kieper played a great game and made 21 saves in the win. Tetachuk made 25 saves in just over 48 minutes of work.

Regina went 3-for-5 on the powerplay; Moose Jaw went 1-for-5.

“I like that we did a lot of right things in getting the win,” Paddock added. “That’s the most important thing. You just can’t turn the tap on and off on executing. Some of the things that we want to be traits of our team that have been in and out — for various reasons — we did them pretty well today.”

Patterings… Nijhoff’s goal streak ended at seven games but added two assists to increase his point streak to eight games… Howe had four points and earned first-star honors… Bedard was named the second star with a three-point outing (goal, two assists)… Nijhoff was named third-star… Evans added three assists… Logan Linklater made his Pats debut and is the 1,236th skater to play in a regular-season or playoff game for the Pats (not including goalies). The Pats’ next game is Tuesday, January 18 against the Hitmen in a rescheduled game from January 11th.