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

Pats thrash Wheat Kings 6-1 to win fourth-straight contest

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

The Regina Pats came into Saturday’s contest against the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings looking to extend their season-high winning streak to four contests.

This was the second meeting of the season between the two clubs in which the Wheat Kings beat the Pats 4-2 on October 10. Carson Bjarnason was pressed into duty and made 39 saves for his first win in the WHL.

The Pats forward units were comprised of Logan Nijhoff at center with Cole Dubinsky and Connor Bedard on his wings. Cole Carrier centered Zack Stringer and Borya Valis. Tanner Howe lined up alongside Drew Englot and Braxton Whitehead. The final combination was yet another American trio with Matteo Michels centering Zane Rowan and Easton Armstrong. The top two defensive pairings have not changed and are Ryker Evans with Luke Bateman and Stanislav Svozil with Tom Cadieux. The third pair is Adam McNutt with Layton Feist. Matthew Kieper got the nod in the Pat net making his 12th start of the 2021-22 season.

The Wheat Kings went with Bjarnason between the pipes as overage goalie Ethan Kruger was out with an injury.

The Pats continued on their recent tear beating the Wheat Kings 6-1 before 3,745 at the Brandt Centre. Howe led the way for the Pats with a pair of goals. Stringer, McNutt, Evans, and Carrier added to the Pats’ goal total. Rylen Roersma replied late for the Wheat Kings.

“This is our most complete effort,” offered Pats assistant coach Brad Herauf. “Obviously we got some puck luck here, but I think we’ve been playing this way since the start of the year. For me, it was good to see the kids not be frustrated and get rewarded for their hard work.”

“We played a full 60 minutes, which was probably our first time this year,” added Pats 19-year-old alternate captain Evans. “Everyone from top-down, rookies, vets, we were all playing great. Just to have those guys (younger players) get more reps in, especially in these higher scoring games has been great.”

First Period

The Pats opened the scoring just 2:18 into the hockey game. Stringer found himself behind the Wheat King defense. He corraled a loose puck and fired home his sixth of the season to give the Pats a 1-0 lead. Nijhoff picked up the helper on the opening goal.

Howe increased the Pats lead to a pair when he scored his third of the season. He deflected in a cross-crease pass from Englot to give the Pats a 2-0 lead at 7:07 of the first. Feist picked up the second assist on the powerplay marker.

Near the end of a Wheat King powerplay, they rang a shot off the post. Nijhoff found the loose puck and sent it down the ice. McNutt, who had just stepped out of the penalty box picked up the puck and went in all alone on Bjarnason and fired a shot glove side past the Wheat King goalie. McNutt’s first of the season and first as with the club gave the Pats a 3-0 lead at 16:11 of the first.

The Pats took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission and held a 12-9 shots advantage through twenty minutes of play.

Second Period

The Pats continued their strong performance as Evans made it 4-0 at 10:55 of the second period. His seeing eye point shot eluded Bjarnason. Evans’ third of the season was assisted by Valis and Svozil.

Regina added to their lead just over two minutes later as Howe netted his second of the game and fourth of the season. Howe tipped in a Svozil point shot to give the Pats a five-goal lead. The powerplay marker gave the Pats a 5-0 lead at 13:05 of the middle twenty. Evans drew the second assist.

The Pats led 5-0 after two periods and outshot Brandon 17-11 in the second frame (29-20 overall).

Third Period

Carrier increased the Pats lead to a half-dozen when he tipped in a pass from Valis just in front of the Wheat Kings crease. His fourth of the season put the Pats up 6-0 at 6:48 of the final period.

After hitting a trio of posts throughout the game, the Wheat Kings were finally able to beat Kieper in the Pat net. Rylen Roersma’s backhand shot from down low snuck through the Pat goaltender breaking the goose egg with just over five minutes remaining (14:32). Nolan Ritchie and Teydon Trembecky picked up the assists on the 6-1 goal.

The Pats outshot the Wheat Kings 15-2 in the third and 44-22 overall.

“We’re finally getting some puck luck and being rewarded for our work.” Herauf reiterated on the Pats playing with the lead. “The way we responded, was a great job by our 20 players.”

“Everybody wants to win by more than two. Just the team bonding aspect of winning by a great number really brings [us] together.” Pats defenseman McNutt said of the win. “We worked really hard tonight; we worked inside the system. That’s what helped us get the 6-1 win tonight.”

Patterings… Zack Smith missed the contest with an injury sustained on Wednesday… The Pats went 2-for-6 on the powerplay while going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill… Kieper made 21 saves, his counterpart Bjarnason made 38 saves in the loss… Howe had his third-straight two-point game and now has six points in his last three contests… Howe (2G) was also named first star, Valis (3A) second star, and McNutt (1G) third star…The Pats’ next action is Wednesday, November 10 against the Red Deer Rebels.