Saskatoon came out of the gates with two quick goals to propel themselves to their first win over Regina this season, 6-3 on Friday night.
Pats head coach Dave Struch was not impressed by the start from his team. “(The) first 10 minutes our top guys were sleeping, that can’t happen. We need to be at the top of our game every single night.”
After goals by Tristen Robins on the power play, and Chase Wouters shorthanded, Logan Nijhoff responded for the Pats on a power play of their own. The Blades took a 2-1 lead to the first intermission.
A flurry of goals came in the second period. First, ex-Pat Caiden Daley scored his fifth. Then, Regina scored 16 seconds apart. With goals from Zack Smith and Austin Pratt to tie the game at three. Riley McKay restored the lead for Saskatoon late in the period.
(Photo – Regina Pats)
Despite giving up the goal after tying up the game Struch said “(It) didn’t bother us, guys were set on winning. We’re going to play and do things right to win a hockey game, and we did it. There’s always mistakes and there’s always an opposition. I thought that Saskatoon played really good.”
There was no scoring in the third until late in the period when Alex Morozoff added what would be the insurance goal of the game. With the goalie pulled and on the power play Regina pushed hard but were unable to find the back of the net. Aidan De La Gorgendiere found the empty net after stepping out of the penalty box.
“(In the) second and third period, score aside, I felt that we did a great job. Pushed hard, never gave up guys never quit. There’s lots of stuff that we can build on, but there’s lots of stuff we can learn from too, in that first half the first period. They just played 60 (minutes) we didn’t,” said Struch.
Milestones
The game saw two Pats players reach 100 career WHL games played. First it was Jakob Brook, who was also making his Pats debut. He was acquired in the Max Paddock trade, but had been out with a knee injury.
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)
Post game Brook commented on his first game with the team, saying: “Feels good. Took a little bit of getting used to the systems and I’m still adjusting to it, but it felt good. I had a few lapses I felt, I think that’s just kind of getting comfortable and getting back into the games after being away for over a month.”
On playing his 100th game Brook said: “Yeah, that’s cool. It was nice to have that right in this building in my first game. It’s nice to have the fans out there for my 100th game.”
“Sort of a fresh start, they’re a younger team and I feel I was going to get a little more opportunity here so I was really happy to come here,” said Brook on coming to the Pats.
With only 13 games left after Friday night Brook wont have much time before the season is over “Kind of work into a role and lead into next year.” He said: “Show the coaches what I have for sure and make a last impression on the scouts.”
Brook is ranked as the #171st ranked skater in North America for the upcoming NHL Draft.
After the game Friday, Struch commented on his first look at game action of Brook, saying “It was good, a little bit tentative after being out for a long time. You can see there’s lots of speed there. I think that once he gets a little more comfortable out there, in tune with our team game and systems he’s going to be real big asset for us.”
The second Pat to play in his 100th WHL game was Ryker Evans.
Post game Evans said “It’s unreal, I didn’t realize that was 100 games. It’s another milestone in my career.”
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)
Since early December, Evans has scored 21 of his 27 points on the season. His game has been rounding into form. He said “I’m finally finding my role on the team and it’s helping us with those close games.” Despite that, Evans says he can improve, saying ” I got lots of things I gotta work on in the summer, to come to the team next year with much more things that’ll help us win.”
Evans is also ranked for the upcoming NHL Draft as the #177th ranked skater.
Coach Struch commented on his improving play since joining the team last season, saying “yeah he is, size, strength, speed, everything. He’s getting some good looks from NHL scouts which is good. Obviously he’s been real good for us. He’s always been a good skater, he’s got some good hockey IQ, he can play. You know what he’s got enough courage to play defensively too. He does a great job there.”
Pats Stats
Both teams were successful once on the power play. Regina had five opportunities, while Saskatoon had six. The Blades were able to add a shorthanded marker.
Pats netminder Donovan Buskey stopped 30-of-35 shots.
Blades starting goalie Nolan Maier made 24 stops on 27 shots.
Three stars of the game were Tristen Robins, first, Austin Pratt, second and Cole Dubinsky, third.
Robins has five points in his last two games.
Pratt now has a three game point streak with a goal and three assists.
Caiden Daley and Alex Morozoff both have goals in back-to-back games.
