Regina held a three-goal lead, arguably the worst lead in hockey, and the Pats couldn’t hang on last night. A power-play goal by Logan Christensen sealed the Pats fate with 3:40 remaining in the third period.
The Pats came out and scored three first period goals. It was the veterans leading the way.
Ty Kolle got the Pats on the board quick, just 56 seconds into the game. He had an easy tap in back door off a great backhand feed from Logan Nijhoff. Austin Pratt then scored at 4:51 on the power play. Fellow overager Dawson Holt set him up in the slot with a pass from behind the net.
At 8:47, Cole Dubinsky was sprung on a breakaway and made no mistake, going backhand to give the Pats the three-goal lead.
The Medicine Hat Tigers pushed back late in the period and carried that into the second period. Caleb Willms scored at 2:37 into the second, and then, with 1:11 remaining in the period, Ryan Watson scored.
The Tigers then scored early in the third. At 4:36, Tyler Preziuso tied the game.
Kyle Walker of the Pats hit the post soon after, which ended up being their best scoring chance of the period.
Regina then had five minutes and 52 seconds straight of power-play time, as the Tigers took an interference penalty and a high sticking double minor, but the Pats were unable to convert. Medicine Hat received a power play of its own soon after on a Tyson Feist high sticking infraction. Christensen and the Tigers power play were able to convert with the eventual game-winning goal with just three minutes and 40 seconds to play
Pats Stats
Pats goaltender Matthew Pesenti played the whole game and made 26 saves on 30 shots in the loss. He has played the most minutes in goal for the Pats this preseason. Garin Bjorklund also played the full game for the Tigers, making 26 saves on 29 shots.
The Pats drop to 2-2-0-1 in the preseason with a home-and-home coming up next weekend against the Prince Albert Raiders to wrap up the preseason. With the win, Medicine Hat is now 1-1-0-0.
Regina’s power play was 1-for-5 in the game. It was only the third power-play goal of the preseason on 23 chances. Medicine Hat was 1-for-3.
