Pats prevail in long-awaited Memorial Cup opener vs. OHL champ Hamilton
REGINA — Nick Henry scored the winner with 32 seconds remaining in the third period as the host Regina Pats opened the 100th Memorial Cup with a 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday night.
Henry collected a rebound in front of the Hamilton net and wristed it past goaltender Kaden Fulcher. Josh Mahura and Sam Steel also scored for Regina, which was playing its first game since being eliminated in the Western Hockey League playoffs on April 2.
Marian Studenic and Robert Thomas found the back of the net for the Bulldogs, the Ontario Hockey League champion. Max Paddock made 31 saves in net for the Pats, while Fulcher turned aside 28-of-31 shots for Hamilton.
Paddock was solid for the Pats after a lengthy absence. He last played over two months ago in a regular-season matchup against Swift Current on March 16 before getting injured prior to the start of the post-season.
Mahura tied the game at 15:30 of the second with a nice end-to-end rush, which he finished off with a wrist shot that went top right-hand corner.
Studenic had given Hamilton a 2-1 advantage two minutes prior when his wrist shot went over Paddock’s glove and just under the crossbar.
It took just 19 seconds into the second period for the Pats to find the scoresheet. Steel, the team’s captain, one-timed a shot past Fulcher on the power play to even the game at 1-1.
Regina’s power play had struggled to find its groove until Steel’s goal — a sign of the rust experienced from an over six-week layoff.
Thomas opened the scoring midway through the first period on a tipped Justin Lemcke shot from the point that went above the left shoulder of Paddock.
The OHL playoff MVP has now scored four goals in his last three games dating back to the league championship series against Sault Ste. Marie.
It’s the seventh time in Regina’s 100-year history that the Pats are hosting Canada’s major junior championship. The Pats have won the Canadian Hockey League title four times, most recently in 1974.
The Bulldogs are in their first Memorial Cup in just their third season since being relocated from Belleville.
Regina has today off before facing Acadie-Bathurst of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Sunday. Hamilton, meanwhile, doesn’t play again until Monday night against the Western Hockey League champion Swift Current Broncos.
Swift Current opens today against Acadie-Bathurst.