Regina Leader-Post

PATS FACE RAIDERS

Regina jockeying for playoff position.

- GREG HARDER gharder@leaderpost.com

The Regina Pats weren’t going to let the Prince Albert Raiders spoil their fun.

In a dangerous matchup against a team with nothing to lose, the Pats were just good enough to take care of business on Wednesday night — and, more importantl­y, emerge unscathed — with a 4-1 decision over the cellar-dwelling Raiders before 4,030 fans at the Brandt Centre.

“Prince Albert has given us trouble all year,” offered Pats head coach Pat Conacher, whose team led 2-0 after the first period but needed two late goals to put the Raiders away. “They were taking it to us (in the second). I have to give them credit. But we came out in the third and pushed back and kind of sealed the deal.

“I thought it was a pretty good 60 minutes for us. I liked the way we came out tonight. We didn’t play down (to the Raiders’ level). We kept pushing the pace, kept the tempo up. I like what we did.”

In particular, he liked the end result.

With the win, Regina (37-25-6-2) leapfrogge­d the Saskatoon Blades and Kootenay Ice to take over sole possession of fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Pats are now one point up on those clubs and three ahead of the Brandon Wheat Kings as all four teams continue to jockey for position heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

Regina concludes its schedule with a home-andhome set against the Wheat Kings (Friday in Regina and Saturday in Brandon) which will determine the fate of both teams.

“We have to get better because we’re going into the playoffs but I’m confident in our group,” said Conacher, whose team outshot P.A. 30-29. “Playing this game tonight we’ve talked about how we have to keep going forward and keep being what we are, not worrying about who we play. You want to go in on a roll. I expect we’re going to be a better team yet (against Brandon).”

After resting three of their big guns — Jordan Weal, Lane Scheidl and Martin Marincin — for Saturday’s 3-2 OT loss to the rival Moose Jaw Warriors, the Pats had all hands on deck against Prince Albert. They needed them. Regina opened the scoring 6:10 into the first period courtesy of a textbook cycle which freed up captain Brandon Davidson to walk out from the corner and find rookie Morgan Klimchuk, who one-timed it past Cole Holowenko for a 1-0 lead.

The Raiders dodged a bullet with 2:51 left in the first when Weal stepped out from behind the net and centered to Scheidl, but Holowenko made an outstandin­g pad save. Just 50 seconds later, Weal hit the right post on a 2-on-1 break, denying him his 40th goal of the season. However, the Pats’ star wouldn’t be turned away the second time thanks to a late power play as Matt Marantz spun around in the corner and put a bullet pass right on the stick of Weal, who tapped it home from the doorstep with 1.3 seconds on the clock.

The goalies took over in the second period, with Regina’s Matt Hewitt robbing Anthony Bardaro and Justin Maylan early in the frame. Holowenko responded with a big save off Marantz, followed by a great chance for Davidson, who walked in and rung it off the post.

The Raiders finally got on the board with 2:37 left in the middle frame when Sawyer Lange whacked a loose puck past Hewitt for his first WHL goal (play briefly continued when the puck hit the back iron and popped out, but the goal was later upheld by video review). With 30 seconds left in the second, Holowenko made another great save on Weal, who nearly finished off a 2-on-1 feed from Dyson Stevenson that would have made it 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Regina was denied again just 23 seconds into the third when Weal sent Chandler Stephenson in alone, but he couldn’t slip the rolling puck through Holowenko. Clinging to a 2-1 lead, the Pats continued to lean on their defence until they could seal it on the power play. Dominik Volek did the honours with 3:03 left when he danced into the slot, beat one defender and put a slick move on Holowenko for a 3-1 lead. Weal’s empty netter rounded out the scoring with 1:20 left.

“We just worked hard,” added Klimchuk. “We had a little bit of a sloppy second (period) but we really came through in the third like we usually do. We take pride in that. We’ve had trouble with sinking down to teams’ levels. Going into the playoffs you need to develop good habits. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

 ?? TROY Fleece/leader-post ?? Pats’ Tanner Olstad tries to get the loose puck from Raiders’ Riley Guenther during Wednesday night’s game at the Brandt Centre.
TROY Fleece/leader-post Pats’ Tanner Olstad tries to get the loose puck from Raiders’ Riley Guenther during Wednesday night’s game at the Brandt Centre.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada