Road trip begins on win streak
The Regina Pats are facing an uphill climb as they head west on their longest road trip of the season.
Good thing they’re already on a roll.
After winning three straight games and four of their last five, the Pats (7-12-0) have momentum on their side as they prepare for Tuesday’s game against the Kootenay Ice — the first of six straight in B.C.
“We’re looking to keep it rolling,” said goalie Max Paddock. “It’s just a good momentum builder to win (those recent) games. There are some good teams in the west, so we’ll have to keep on playing our best hockey.”
Paddock is certainly on top of his game, as evidenced by the fact that he was named the WHL’S goaltender of the week Monday.
The 18-year-old netminder had one of his best performances of the season on Friday, backstopping Regina to a 5-1 upset win over the Tri-city Americans. That was followed by his first career shutout Saturday — a 20-save effort — in Regina’s 2-0 triumph over the Swift Current Broncos.
“I felt like I had something to prove,” said Paddock, who was coming off two sub-par performances. “I was just looking to give my team a bounce back. They worked hard last week. It wasn’t fair that I didn’t really give them a chance to win, but I felt like I did that this week.”
As a result, the Pats are enjoying their most prosperous stretch of the young season.
Although two of those wins have come against the cellar-dwelling Swift Current Broncos, two others were versus legitimate playoff-calibre clubs (Saskatoon and Tri-city).
“That’s a really good team builder right there,” said forward Austin Pratt. “All the hard work we’ve done is starting to pay off. Everyone is playing the way they should.”
Especially the No. 1 line of Pratt, Jake Leschyshyn and Nick Henry, who combined for 10 goals and 10 assists during Regina’s three-game winning streak.
That said, they haven’t done it alone.
There have been plenty of unsung contributions from all over the Pats lineup. That was especially true in Saturday’s victory over Swift Current, which head coach Dave Struch called his team’s “most simple, smart game of the year.
“Everybody had a part in something good,” Struch said. “We are getting some bounces, there’s no question about it, but you have to work hard to create bounces. We’re getting them right now. We just need to continue that.”
Struch is quick to point out that his players have been doing a lot of good things for most of the season, especially in terms of their work ethic.
They just weren’t getting rewarded — until now.
“We’ve been building up for this,” Struch said. “The standards on the ice have been raised. I know our home record isn’t all that good (4-9-0), but we’ve played some good teams. We’ve grown a lot as a group. Now, going out on the road, we need to keep the bar high.
“We’re going to play some good teams. We’re going to have some rough nights, but all we want is our guys to remember how we did things the last couple weeks. We can always reach back and grab from the experiences we’re having right now.”
The team can also draw upon its previous road success. Regina has a 3-3-0 record away from the Brandt Centre this season, including a 3-2 victory over the Ice on Oct. 12.
“We’ve been really good on the road,” Pratt said. “It’s going to be a great team builder (to spend a couple weeks away). It’s always beautiful to go out to B.C. and see everything and we get to play against some good teams. We’re going to have a lot of fun.”
It’s just a good momentum builder to win (those recent) games. There are some good teams in the west.