Pats pick up three points over the weekend
Similar effort, better result.
The Regina Pats picked up their first win of the 2016-17 WHL campaign on Saturday night, skating to a 4-2 decision over the Prince Albert Raiders at the Art Hauser Centre.
The victory came just 24 hours after the Pats and Raiders opened their respective schedules with a meeting at the Brandt Centre. The home team lost 4-3 in overtime despite outshooting P.A. 45-30.
The shots were identical in Saturday’s rematch, but Regina finished the job the second time around.
“I thought we played six really good periods but we were a little bit better (in Game 2),” said Pats head coach/GM John Paddock. “We were a little bit more sure of ourselves and doing the right things — pressuring sort of relentlessly. (On Friday) I thought we were good and then (the Raiders) would take away the momentum a little bit. I didn’t think they took it away too much (on Saturday).”
Regina’s Jake Leschyshyn opened the scoring midway through the first period, notching his first goal of the season on a short-handed breakaway.
Austin Glover got it back with 1:31 left in the first and Kolten Olynek added a power-play goal 7:23 into the second period, giving the home team a 2-1 lead.
Regina’s Lane Zablocki responded on the man advantage midway through the second. Rookie Braydon Buziak followed up with his second goal in as many games, scoring with 2:59 on the clock to put the visitors up 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Regina outshot Prince Albert 22-8 in the middle frame.
The score remained 3-2 until Leschyshyn added an empty netter with 2:03 left in the third, capping off a three-point night (two goals, one assist). Netminder Jordan Hollett contributed 28 saves in his first start of the campaign after Tyler Brown got the call in Friday’s opener.
“(Hollett) made some real good saves,” said Paddock. “When it’s a one-goal game, you (need to) make some good saves at the right times. He was sharp.”
Ian Scott was too. He took the loss for Prince Albert despite stopping 83 of 89 shots over two games.
The Pats got the better of him on Saturday, but it took a full team effort to do it.
“There were really no passengers,” added Paddock.
“All our forwards did a real good job. The kids (on the fourth line) played real good when they were out there for seven, eight, 10 shifts. (Rookie defenceman) Riley Bruce didn’t play a lot but he played four or five strong shifts. All our guys did.
“Obviously Leschyshyn and Zablocki played good. (Dawson) Leedahl. Buziak played really good. The (Luc) Smith line was really good. (Veteran defencemen Chase) Harrison and (James) Hilsendager were really good. (Liam) Schioler. We had good service out of everybody. “It was a really good game.” For the second straight night, both teams were missing five of their top players due to NHL training camps.
Regina was without forwards Adam Brooks, Sam Steel and Austin Wagner, plus defencemen Connor Hobbs and Sergey Zborovskiy.
The Raiders were minus goalie Rylan Parenteau and forwards Reid Gardiner and Luke Coleman, along with defenders Vojtech Budik and Brendan Guhle.
The Pats hope to see their NHL prospects start trickling back into town as early as this week. EXTRAS: Zablocki had an assist to go with his goal while Leedahl and Jared Freadrich added one assist apiece. Schioler also had one helper along with a teambest plus-three rating ... Glover (one goal, one assist) and Simon Stransky (two assists) led P.A. for the second straight night. Glover had a goal and an assist in Friday’s opener while Stransky had a threepoint night (two goals, one assist), including the overtime winner ... D Brady Pouteau (ankle) and D Owen Williams (healthy) were Regina’s scratches on Saturday. Bruce made his season debut after Williams played the opener ... Prince Albert was 1-for-7 on the power play. The Pats went 1-for-3 ... Regina has five days off before commencing a fivegame homestand on Friday night against the Edmonton Oil Kings.