Pat Canadians open semifinal series with victory over Swift Current

Regina Pat Canadians goalie Taylor Tabashniuk knew he was going to be busy during the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League playoffs.

That's what happens when you lead the league's goaltenders in wins (21) and goals-against average (2.90) during the regular season. With a 30-save performance Tuesday he's now leading the playoff statistics with four victories and a 1.50 GAA, plus he's got a scintillating .945 save percentage after Regina beat the Swift Current Legionnaires 6-2 in the opening game of their best-of-five semifinal series at the Co- Operators Centre.

“The games are pretty tough, but I'm ready for the work,” said Tabashniuk, who won all three starts in second-place Regina's quarterfinal series win over the seventh-place Moose Jaw Warriors. “We put a lot out there in Game 4 (an 11-2 victory in Moose Jaw that gave Regina a 3-1 series win). Our guys are scoring on all their offensive chances and that's a big deal for us. That's something I know the guys work on a lot in practice.”

Game 2 is Thursday in Swift Current.

Swift Current finished fourth in the SMAAAHL regular season and made Tuesday's game interesting after Regina — on goals by Steven Steranka, Jonah Sivertson, both on power plays, and Reid Bechard — took a 3-0 lead into the second period. Bechard is an affiliated player who was added to the roster; the goal was his first for the Pat C's and the team made mention of his accomplishment on Instagram.

“We thought we might come out a little flat in the second period,” sad Pat C's defender Isaac Poll. “We gave up two goals before we were able to lock it down and continue to outplay them.”

Griffin Darby, on a 5-on-3 power play, and Porter Nickason pulled the visitors within 3-2 before the Pat C's restored their lead on second-period tallies by Casey Brown and Dayce Derkatch. Sivertson's second goal completed the scoring in the third period.

“Swift Current is a hard-working team,” said Pat C's head coach Ryan Hodgins. “They've got skill, good goaltending and they're wellcoached.

“We want our team to be fast, physical, disciplined. We've gotta clean up the penalties a bit. We don't want to get in a special-teams matchup. I'd rather play 5-on-5 and use our depth.”

The league's other semifinal series features the first-place Saskatoon Blazers against the sixthplace Tisdale Trojans. Saskatoon eliminated the eighth-place Estevan Bears while Tisdale upset the third-place Warman Wildcats. Tisdale was scheduled to visit Saskatoon for their opener on Wednesday night.

The Blazers are the reigning league champions, having defeated Regina last season in the fifth and deciding game of the final series. Pat C's captain Casey Brown said recently he was hoping to get another opportunity to meet the Blazers, which would happen if Saskatoon and Regina win their respective series.

“I think our guys are pretty locked in,” he said. “You can't be looking past anybody. There's a zero chance if we're looking past anybody because we're playing a really good hockey team right now.”