Keith Hershmiller
Eastern Division

Wheat Kings quick strike offense too much for Pats in 5-2 win

Written by Kevin Shaw on

 

In what was almost a must-win game, the Regina Pats started off strong but the Brandon Wheat Kings scored three goals late in the first which was too much for the Pats to overcome in a 5-2 loss before a season-high crowd of 6,241 at the Brandt Centre.

Zack Stringer opened the scoring for the Pats with a powerplay marker early in the first period. The Wheat Kings scored a trio of goals by Rylen Roersma, Vincent Iorio, and Ben Thornton on three successive shots late in the first to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission. Tyson Zimmer and Roersma (second of the game) added to the Wheat Kings lead in the second period. Connor Bedard stopped the bleeding with a powerplay goal to bookend the Wheat Kings tallies in a 5-2 loss.

The Pats did themselves no favors tonight as both the Swift Current Broncos and Prince Albert Raiders lost. To make matters worse for the Pats, the Calgary Hitmen won and have now also leapfrogged the Pats in the standings. With nine games left the Pats are five points out of the seventh spot and four out of eighth with two other teams in the way. It is not over, but a playoff chance is getting further and further away.

“Just being around this group and being here every day, I just think we’re a fragile group right now,” Pats assistant coach Brad Herauf said. “We’re almost like a whipped dog right now and I think with our young group — which we are — we’re learning to win and this is just something else we’re learning.

“We’ve been asking a lot of [the] kids for six, eight weeks now and guys have been jumping up and then stepping up, and it’s hard to be consistent in this league.”

Here is how things went at the Brandt:

The Pats capitalize on an early powerplay as Stringer tips home a pass from Tanner Howe in front of Ethan Kruger’s goal at 3:45 to make it 1-0 Pats. Ryker Evans also assisted on Stringer’s 10th of the season.

The Pats looked to be in control but something short-circuited and led to the Wheat Kings scoring a trio of goals in 1:11 late in the first period to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Roersma finished off a 3-on-1 tic-tac-toe passing play to get the Wheat Kings on the board at 18:02 of the first. Nolan Ritchie and Jake Chiasson assisted on Roersma’s 16th of the campaign.

Not to be outdone, Iorio took the puck into the Pats defensive zone and took a shot that was partially blocked by the Pat defender. Iorio picked up the loose puck and tucked it five-hole past Sim. His 10th of the season came 15 seconds after the Wheat Kings tied it up to make it 2-1.

 

Just 56 seconds later Thornton added to the Wheat Kings lead when he found himself all alone in front of the Pats net. He received a feed from Chad Nychuk and one-timed his fifth past Sim to give the Wheat Kings a 3-1 lead heading into the first-period break.

The Wheat Kings’ three goals came on three shots to end the first.

The Pats outshot the Kings 15-10 but trailed 3-1.

Another odd-man rush, another Wheat King goal as Zimmer finished off a nifty passing play on a 3-on-1. Nate Danielson and Nychuk got the assists on Zimmer’s ninth of the season. The Wheat Kings had a 4-1 lead at the eight-minute mark of the second period.

The quick-strike Wheat King offense added to their lead 3:06 later. The Pats were caught on a bad line change, Nolan Ritchie and Roersma broke in on a 2-on-0. Ritchie fed a pass to Roersma who beat Sim with a one-timer to give the Wheat Kings a 5-1 lead with his 17th.

The Wheat Kings outscored the Pats 2-0. The Pats managed just two shots to the Wheat Kings 11 and trailed 21-17 after forty minutes.

Bedard bookended the five Wheat Kings goals with a nice powerplay marker at 17:49 of the third. His perfectly placed point shot beat Kruger high blocker side to make it 5-2. Cole Dubinsky and Evans picked up the assists on Bedard’s 44th.

“And tonight, we came out flying, we were playing our game,” Herauf said. “That’s the way we like to play. And we’ve done that multiple times over the last couple [of] months…one of the big things [is] that you got to elevate your game when you go from 16, 17 to 18, 19, that’s what it is: consistency. And I thought just, you know, the events that’s happened in the last 10 days to our group, there’s no excuse for it.

“That’s on the coaches: to get us ready and get them ready and we’re cognizant, but you know, I just feel bad for a group. They’re trying their best right now, but it’s a learning process and it has been very disappointing over the last couple weeks: what the results have been from our effort that the kids have been really putting in.”

The Pats ended up going 2-for3 on the powerplay while the Wheat Kings went 0-for-2.

Regina outshot Brandon 11-5 in the third period and 28-26 overall.

Sim who cannot be faulted for any of the goals he allowed stopped 21 of 26 shots in the loss. Kruger stopped 26 of 28 to pick up his 23rd win of the season.

Patterings: The Wheat Kings swept the three stars: Roersma, Iorio, and Zimmer received honors…The Pats’ next action is Wednesday when they host the Saskatoon Blades.