With 3:12 remaining in the third period Logan Nijhoff was able to bounce on a loose puck in front of Taylor Gauthier and deposit his second of the game to tie it up and send the game to extra time.
With one goal in the past 20 games, Nijhoff may have been a bit frustrated, but with two posts on Sunday against Brandon, it was coming around. “It’s a little frustrating the last couple games but just staying positive and knowing it’s going to happen. Huge credit to Krane and Holmes for those two goals.” Said Nijhoff after the game.
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)
Prince George took the lead early with two goals from Filip Koffer. Carson Denomie responded for Regina, but Prince George restored the two-goal lead shortly after with a goal from Brendan Boyle.
“I think the message was just to stay calm and we talked about how important these two points were. They’re a team that’s just behind us and we’re looking to close the gap on the other teams. That and how we’re getting on the road here, we got a couple of days off, we just need to lay everything out there tonight for these points.” Said Nijhoff on the message at the first intermission.
The Pats responded to that message, first star of the night Logan Nijhoff scored his first of the game. Then Carson Denomie scored his second less than a minute later in the second period to tie up the game. Prince George took the lead into the third period with a late goal from Connor Bowie.
“We’d like to be a little bit in the game in the first period, and that’s up to us to get the players ready. So there’s a little bit there that we need to get better at. But our players, they respond very well. It was good because of the effort. I didn’t like the first period very much, we talked about some things at intermission. The second and third was obviously a character win because we’re coming from behind. Top to bottom guys were committed, it was a consistent game. We played the right way, made some adjustments. The players adapted quickly and we can be really happy with that because I think that we felt that we earned it,” said Pats coach Dave Struch post-game.
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)
The game went to the skills competition, where Ilijah Colina scored for the Cougars on their first attempt. Cole Dubinsky scored on Regina’s third attempt to send it to extra shooters. Both goals were of the highlight-reel variety. Zack Smith scored in the fifth round, and Max Paddock stopped Tyson Upper to secure the victory.
With the win, that Pats stay ahead of the Cougars for 19th place, why is that important you ask? Being ahead of the bottom three teams keeps the Pats’ first-round pick out of the draft lottery. That pick is owned by the Saskatoon Blades.
“They’re 16 to 20 years old, we can’t forget that.”
Struch on the upcoming trade deadline
“It will for sure,” responded Dave Struch to the calm that will be brought to the dressing room once the trade deadline passes. “We can probably owe a little bit of our first period tonight to where we are in the year. Once we got our focus on the task at hand, we took a step in the right direction tonight. This is a difficult time for these kids. They’re 16 to 20 years old, we can’t forget that. As much as they’re young men, they still have the teenager in them. The pressures of being a teenager (are) really difficult. All we can ask them to do is get focused for the job that we need to do.”
In the early hours of Thursday, Tyson Feist has been traded to the Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets for a 4th round WHL Bantam Draft pick.
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)
The Road Ahead
“We’re going to be up against some good teams, our energy, and our focus is going to be important. We still are trying to create some space from teams behind us and we’re still trying to catch some teams in front of us. We don’t want to take away from enjoying the road trip. But we do have a job to do. And we’ll find time for both business and pleasure.” Said Struch regarding the upcoming US Division road trip.
Logan Nijhoff on the five games in eight-days trip “A lot of young guys have never played the US division. So I think we got to talk to them about just how physical it is and how every night it’s going to be a war. Overall, I think we just need to stick to our game, tighten up our defense and really bear down on the chances that we get.”
The Pats begin the road trip on Saturday, January 11th in Kennewick as they take on the Tri-City Americans. They then head to Everett to visit the Silvertips on Sunday, January 12th. Next up is the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday, January 14th. The penultimate game is in Seattle versus the Thunderbirds on Friday, January 17th, with the trip rounding out against the Chiefs in Spokane on Saturday, January 18th.
The next home game will see the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Brandt Centre on Friday, January 24th.
Pats Stats
Max Paddock made 31 saves on 35 shots in the game plus four-of-five in the shootout. He received the second star of the game.
Third star Taylor Gauthier stopped 41 of 45 shots in the game and three-of-five in the shootout.
Carson Denomie has four goals and two assists in his past four games.
With an assist on Brendan Boyle’s first-period goal, Regina native, Davin Griffen recorded his first career WHL point.
