REGINA — Last week was jam-packed with hockey for the Regina Pats.
The Western Hockey League team competed in four contests. The Pats were 2-1-1-0. The team, featuring projected No. 1 2023 NHL Entry Draft pick Connor Bedard was packing in fans on its road trip. Red Deer set its regular season attendance record when 7,287 fans came out last week, while 17,223 went to watch the Pats plays the Calgary Hitmen in the Scotiabank Saddledome. There was sellout crowd of 5,378 in Lethbridge to watch the Pats compete, while 6,178 came out Sunday afternoon in Medicine Hat.
As of Sunday, the Pats had a 24-22-2-1 record and were seventh in the East.
This week, the Pats are off until Saturday when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors.
On an Alberta swing, the Pats played some extra hockey in their first two of four games last week. On Jan. 3 in Red Deer, the Pats fell 6-4 in overtime. The host Rebels led 3-2 after the first period. Borya Valis and Bedard, on a power play, lit the lamp for Regina. Ben King, Kai Uchacz, and Craig Armstrong scored for Red Deer.
In the second session, the Pats outscored Red Deer, 3-1, to take a 5-4 lead. Regina’s goals in the period came from Alexander Suzdalev, Sam Oremba, and Valis. Jayde Grubbe scored for Red Deer. King tied the contest in the third. Jhett Larson scored the overtime winner.
For the Pats, Kelton Pyne stopped 26 shots. Red Deer’s Rhett Stoesser had 17 saves.
The next night, Feb. 1, the Pats used to four-goal third period outburst to force overtime. They went on to beat the Calgary Hitmen 6-5 in a shootout. None of Calgary’s three shooters could one past Regina goalie Drew Sim in the shootout. Bedard scored to lift the Pats to the win.
Calgary led 2-1 at the first intermission and increased its lead to 3-1 by the second. In a six-goal third session, the Pats outscored the Hitmen, 4-2. Goals by Pats Tanner Brown and Suzdalev tied the contest at 3-3. The teams then traded goals with Braxton Whitehead scoring twice for Regina and Sean Tschigerl and Landon Hoilett doing the honours for Calgary. Whitehead’s second goal of the night forced overtime.
Sim had 44 saves. Calgary’s Brayden Peters stopped 32 of the 37 shots he faced. Bedard had Regina’s first period marker. For Calgary, Blake Heward and Carter Yakemchuk scored in the first period while Tomis Marinkovic had the Hitmen’s second period marker.
Zack Stringer scored the game winner last Friday as the Pats came from behind to beat his hometown Lethbridge Hurricanes, 3-2. It was an impressive return for Stringer after he had missed four games due to an eye injury.
Oremba staked Regina to a 1-0 lead in the first period. Tyson Laventure and Logan Wormald scored for Lethbridge in the second session to put the hosts on top, 2-1. In the final period, Suzdalev scored his 27th of the season to knot the contest at 2-2.
Sim backstopped the Pats to the win with 33 saves. For the Hurricanes, Bryan Thompson stopped 22 shots.
Bedard finished the game without a point for the first time in 35 games. He also saw his 10-game goal streak come to an end.
On the road Sunday, Bedard scored just more than a minute into the first period to give the Pats a 1-0 lead in Medicine Hat. However, the Tigers won 5-1.
For Medicine Hat, Pavel Bocharov and Kurtis Smythe scored in the first to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead at the first intermission. In the second session, Rhett Parson made it 3-1. In the final period, Dallon Melin scored on a penalty shot and Oasiz Wiesblatt capped the scoring.
Sim made 27 saves. Beckett Langkow stopped 30 of Regina’s 31 shots.
