Pats cherish Prairie Classic game experience despite loss to Hitmen
Focht nets OT winner for Calgary, made more special playing in hometown
The slightest hint of snowfall descended upon Regina’s Mosaic Stadium for the Prairie Classic on Sunday.
It was a far cry from the winter deluge that blanketed the facility — and 33,518 mostly well-lubricated patrons — for Saturday’s NHL Heritage Classic between the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames.
About 15 hours later, the storm had passed and the party crowd thinned out as the Regina Pats took their turn under the lights for an understated outdoor contest versus the Calgary Hitmen.
Ironically, it was Regina product Carson Focht who put the game on ice when he scored 59 seconds into overtime, helping the Hitmen prevail 5-4 in front of a hearty WHL crowd that weathered the -14 C wind chill.
“First off, being in my hometown was really special, but just the atmosphere out there was perfect,” Focht said while 15,401 fans (paid attendance) headed for the exits. “I don’t think we could have asked for better conditions. (There was) a little bit of flurries but I think that just made it a bit more special.”
It was much the same for the Pats, who praised the ice conditions and the experience as a whole. The only thing missing was an upset victory over the Hitmen but — under the circumstances — they’ll settle for the point.
“When we got here everyone kind of dialed in and said ‘we’re here to play hockey’ but I think everyone took a couple looks around (to soak it in),” said forward Logan Nijhoff. “It’s pretty incredible; a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We were really lucky to have something like this happen.”
The Pats welcomed back goalie Max Paddock after missing four straight games with a shoulder injury. He was called upon to make 43 saves in a first-star effort.
“No better way to get in than to see some pucks, especially playing outside,” said Paddock, whose team fell to 2-10-1 while Calgary improved to 8-2-1. “We’ve been playing well for the past few games. We have to keep building off these games. (The Hitmen) are a really good team and we played them well so it was good to get one point. But we wish we could have got two.”
Without Paddock, they might have come up empty. “Max was great,” Focht said. “I talked to him after. He had my number for most of the game. We had to get pucks through to him. We did a good job getting a lot of traffic in front of his eyes, which was key.”
Paddock got some early support from captain Austin Pratt, who banged in a rebound just 29 ticks into the contest.
Calgary’s Mark Kastelic responded less than seven minutes later on a short-handed breakaway.
Robbie Holmes gave the home team a 2-1 lead just 2:31 into the second period, burying a pass in the slot from Pratt.
Kastelic replied 3:47 later off a deflection in front and Jonas Peterek added a breakaway marker to put the visitors up 3-2. Nijhoff knocked in a rebound to tie it but Calgary regained the lead with 47 seconds left in the frame when Luke Prokop’s one-timer from the point went off the skate of Cole Dubinsky and in.
Dubinsky responded 1:55 into the third when he cruised down the right side and drove hard to the net. He was stopped by goalie Jack Mcnaughton but the rebound went right to Nikita Sedov, who deposited his first career WHL goal to tie it 4-4.
It stayed that way until Focht jumped on a rebound and put it over Paddock, who was down and out after a scramble in front.
“The collision at the net leaves everybody down and they get that goal,” noted Pats head coach Dave Struch, whose team was outshot 45-27. “It’s unfortunate no matter how they score the goal, but things like that happen.”
In the end, it wasn’t going to detract from the experience as a whole. “We talked about it before the game, that there were going to be a lot of distractions,” Struch said. “You’re going to make some mistakes but the guys really battled hard.
“For the organization, for the city of Regina, our ownership group, it was a great success. And for the fans it was a good hockey game. It was real special to be a part of.”