Keith Hershmiller
2021-22 WHL Season, East Division, Eastern Division

Pats fall 6-3 to the Oil Kings

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

The Regina Pats faced off against the Edmonton Oil Kings at the Brandt Centre for the first time since February 22, 2020. The Oil Kings skated away with a 2-1 OT victory. Josh Williams scored the winner at 4:13 of the extra frame. The Pats were outshot 41-16.

The Oil Kings proved too much as they skated away with a 6-3 victory before 3,945 fans at the Brandt Centre. Connor Bedard scored twice and Zane Rowan notched his first career goal but it was not enough as Edmonton had too much firepower. Jacob Boucher scored twice to lead the Oil Kings. Dylan Guenther, Logan Dowhaniuk, Josh Williams, and Jalen Luypen also scored for the victorious Oil Kings.

Regina Pats vs Edmonton Oil Kings, November 12, 2021 (Keith Hershmiller)

“[We] played a real good team with elite players,” Pats head coach Dave Struch offered post-game. “Lots of elite depth and that’s why they’re at the top of the food chain it the CHL. I thought that we played a really, good, hard first period and a really, good, hard third period. [The] second period, I think we needed a second puck if we wanted to touch it. We’re going to give them a lot of credit because of who they are and what they do: how that team is built.”

First Period

The Pats opened the scoring in the contest at 9:38 of the opening period. Cole Carrier got the puck up to Rowan who went in on a 2-on-1 with Borya Valis. Rowan attempted a pass in front over to Valis but the puck went off a defender’s skate and past a startled Sebastian Cossa. Rowan’s first career goal gave the Pats a 1-0 lead.

“It was amazing,” Rowan said of his first goal. “Obviously, [I’ve] been waiting [for] 10 or 11 games for it so finally got that little lucky bounce and popped in there.”

Less than 2 minutes later, the Oil Kings tied things up. Arizona Coyotes’ first-round pick Guenther was just too much for the Pats to handle. He broke away from the Pat defenders, broke in alone on Drew Sim, and neatly tucked the puck past the Pat netminder. Guenther’s ninth of the season tied the game at 1-1 at 10:57.

On yet another breakaway, Boucher received a nice pass from Guenther and broke in alone before firing a shot past Sim’s glove hand. Boucher’s fifth of the season at 15:59 gave the Oil Kings a 2-1 lead heading to the break.

Despite trailing 2-1 after the first period, it was a solid twenty minutes for the Queen City kids. The Pats had a 10-9 lead on the shot clock.

Second Period

Things came apart for the Pats in the second period as the Oil Kings struck for three goals to increase their lead.

Dowhaniuk gave the Oil Kings a 3-1 lead with a powerplay goal at 8:46 of the second. His wrist shot from the point eluded a screened Sim. Jake Neighbours added an assist for his first point of the season for the Oil Kings, the St. Louis Blues’ first-round pick was just returned to the WHL after a nine-game stint in the NHL (1G, 1A, 2PTS).

Overage forward Williams added to the Oil Kings lead with a shorthanded goal at 15:16 of the frame. Jakub Demek won a battle for the puck behind the Pat net and was able to feed a nice pass to Williams who wired home his eighth of the season to give the Oil Kings a 4-1 lead.

Edmonton added to their lead before the second period was over. The Oil Kings broke in on an odd-man rush and after a nice passing display, Luypen converted to give Edmonton a four-goal cushion. Luypen’s sixth of the season at 18:46 gave the Oil Kings a 5-1 lead heading into the second intermission.

After forty minutes the Oil Kings were up 5-1 and took over the shot clock 26-19 (17-9 in the second).

Third Period

The Pats got back on track in the third, but it was not enough to overtake the powerful Oil Kings.

Bedard got the Pats back into the contest at 1:37 of the third period when he got around the Oil King defender and passed the puck to Borya Valis creating an odd-man rush. Valis returned the puck to Bedard who put it home past Cossa. Bedard’s seventh of the season got the Pats back into the game at 5-2.

Less than three minutes later Boucher sealed the game when he scored his second of the contest (sixth of the season). Demek got the puck to the left of the Pat net and centered it to Boucher who was coming in alone and he one-timed it past Sim. The goal at 4:04 gave the Oil Kings an insurmountable 6-2 lead.

Bedard’s second of the game got the Pats to within three. Tanner Howe was able to get the puck to Bedard creating a 2-on-1 with Parker Berge. Bedard pulled off a nifty toe-drag snapshot that beat Cossa glove side. Bedard’s eighth of the season at 6:58 made the score 6-3.

Despite a solid final twenty minutes, the Pats could not get any closer. They outshot the Oil Kings 10-8 in the third period but Edmonton finished with a 34-29 final total.

“[We] really like our third period,” Struch said. “Our push, our pride, our character, our drive. No quit. But we played a real good hockey team tonight.”

“There’s always good and bad, but I thought we got outplayed,” Bedard offered his thoughts on the game. “We want to be a top team and we’ve got to start beating those top teams… I think if we can kinda give them a tougher test it will be good for us down the road.”

Patterings… Howe extended his point streak to five games with an assist on Bedard’s second goal of the game… Englot left the game early on and did not return… after being held pointless for the previous three games Bedard picked up his seventh and eighth goals of the season… Berge picked up his first point of the season on Rowan’s first career marker… the Pats’ (6-9-0-0) next action is Saturday night (November 13) versus the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes (5-9-0-0).