REGINA, SASKATOON — With two weekend road wins, the Regina Pats grabbed a 2-0 lead in their Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference quarterfinal series versus the Saskatoon Blades.
The Pats won 6-1 on Friday. On Sunday, they earned a 6-5 overtime victory. The Blades held home ice advantage as the conference’s third seed thanks to a 48-15-4-1 record. Regina entered the playoffs as the conference’s sixth seed after a 34-30-3-1 regular season. The series now heads to Regina. The remaining schedule is:
| Game 3 | April 4 | in Regina |
| Game 4 | April 5 | in Regina |
| Game 5 | April 7 | in Saskatoon (If needed) |
| Game 6 | April 8 | Regina (If needed) |
| Game 7 | April 10 | in Saskatoon (If needed) |
Game One
Pats 6, Blades 1
After a scoreless first period, Zachary Shantz’ first goal of the season got the Regina Pats going. In 17 games split between Prince George and Regina, the forward from Edmonton had not lit the lamp this campaign. His second period marker was followed a Connor Bedard goal to give the Pats a 2-0 lead at the second intermission.
Riley Ginnell scored 31 seconds into the third period to put the Pats up 3-0. Lukas Hansen got one back for the Blades to make the score 3-1. The Pats then got rolling again. Stanislav Svozil, Bedard and Tye Spencer, on an empty net, all had goals for Regina in the third after Hansen’s goal.
Pats goalie Drew Sim allowed only one goal on 28 shots. Austin Elliott stopped 19 shots for the Blades. Attendance was reported at 10,265.
Game Two
Pats 6, Blades 5 OT
On a powerplay, Svozil scored 2:58 into overtime to lift the Pats to a 6-5 victory and a 2-0 series lead as 10,598 looked on. Regin had led 2-1 and 4-3 at the intermissions. In the third period, Jayden Wiens and Vaughn Watterodt lit the lamp to give the Blades a 5-4 lead with 8:50 played. Less than three minutes, Bedard scored to tie up the game – and help send it to overtime.
Bedard recorded five points – including a hattrick. Svozil had two goals. Zack Stringer also scored for the Pats. The Blades’ scorers were Wiens, Watterodt, Hansen, Justin Lies, and Josh Pillar.
Sim stopped 42 shots on 47 attempts to earn the win for Regina. Elliott made nine saves on 13 shots. Ethan Chadwick came on in the second period. He made four saves.
