The Regina Pats battled hard but the veteran Red Deer Rebels were just too strong as they skated away with a 3-2 win before 3,813 at the Brandt Centre.
Kalan Lind scored twice while Talon Brigley opened the scoring for the Rebels in the win. Stanislav Svozil and Tye Spencer replied for the Pats.
“I’m actually super proud of our boys the way they battled,” said Pats assistant coach Brad Herauf. “The goals that went in, besides that first goal where there was a little breakdown in our defensive zone coverage with a guy coming out of the box. The guys kinda miscommunicated and left a guy open. People are going to score from there in this league. Outside of that, I couldn’t ask for anything more. They scored a real playoff goal, that third one. That second one, Drew [Sim] slipped on a banana peel. There is nothing you can do about that.”
“I thought we played a solid game,” Spencer said of the effort.
“I thought we played really good today,” Layton Feist said. “Especially in the third… we were all over them it’s just [that] they are so good defensively we couldn’t get those goals.
Brigley opened the scoring for the Rebels when he received a pass in the slot and fired a quick shot past the outstretched glove of Drew Sim. Brigley’s fourth goal (second against the Pats on the season) gave the Rebels a 1-0 lead with 1:29 left in the first period.
The Rebels headed into the first intermission with the one-goal lead and an 11-9 advantage on the shot clock.
SVOZIL STAYS HOT🔥
The @BlueJacketsNHL prospect ties this game up!#MarchOn | #REGvsRD pic.twitter.com/72feybpWYu
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) March 5, 2022
On a strong shift by the Pats, Svozil’s shot attempt was blocked but the puck came right back to him and he made no mistake as he fired home his ninth of the season to tie the game up at 1-1 at 6:25 of the second. Jakob Brook and Zane Rowan picked up assists on the Svozil goal.
While on the penalty kill, Pats goalie Sim blew a tire and left a gaping cage for the Rebels and Ben King’s shot went in off Lind. His 12th of the season gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead at 11:02 of the second period.
Just over a minute later, Lind scored his second of the game (13th of the season) as he won the battle for the puck in the Pats crease and poked home the 3-1 goal.
The Rebels headed into the second intermission up 3-1 and 22-16 on the shot clock.
🚨 SPENCERRRR 🚨
Tye Spencer gets his 2nd as a Pat & it's a massive goal! We're now just down by 1.#MarchOn | #REGvsRD pic.twitter.com/oVLHcAM1gS
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) March 5, 2022
The Pats got to within one when Spencer scored his fifth of the season (second with the Pats) at 14:03 of the third period. The Rebels defender broke his stick and the puck went to Connor Bedard who tried to get a shot off and the puck went back to him. Bedard picked up the puck and quickly sent a pass over to Spencer who buried it.
“It feels awesome,” Spencer said after scoring his second goal in a Pat uniform. “I had a little streak where I couldn’t tally up some points, it’s nice getting the monkey off the back and I am looking forward to the next game.”
The Pats pressed in the latter stages of the third period, but the experienced Rebels clamped down defensively and the Pats could not get the equalizer.
The Rebels outshot the Pats 29-24 in the game and skated off with a 3-2 win.
“The way Drew [Sim] played in the third period, especially those first five minutes really held us in it,” Herauf said. “The last ten minutes we had our push and we played playoff-style hockey. I’m disappointed in that obviously and that’s been the theme here lately against these good teams, we’re right there. We can’t stop.”
Ungar stopped 22 of 24 shots in the win, while Sim stopped 26 of 29 shots for the Pats in the loss.
Patterings: Bedard extended his point streak to 14 games where he has collected 29 points (13G-19A)…Raiden Zacharias and Brayden Barnett dressed as affiliated players for the Pats… Three stars were Lind, Svozil, and Sedoff…The Pats’ next action is Saturday night when they host the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
