Nijhoff Hat-Trick Not Enough as Wheat Kings Hold off Pats
April 6, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Regina Pats News Release
Brandon, Man. - The shorthanded Regina Pats put forth a strong effort on Tuesday night in Brandon, but couldn't complete the comeback, falling to the Wheat Kings 5-4.
The Pats' blueline was without the services of both Ryker Evans and Stanislav Svozil, so they had to roll with five defencemen, including affiliate player Jacob Dewitt.
"We're pretty proud of the guys in terms of our effort tonight. Much better effort than the game back in Prince Albert, so kudos to our young guys," Pats assistant coach Ken Schneider said after the game. "We played with five [defencemen] the whole night. Guys played hard. It was a little frustrating to give up a goal right after we scored to make it 2-1. We need to be ready to push back hard because you know they're going to have a good shift after we score."
The biggest news from the game was Pats captain Logan Nijhoff scoring his first career Western Hockey League hat-trick. The trio of goals continues his most productive season yet, now with 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points in 52 games. It's the first 20-goal season of his career.
Layton Feist and Neithan Salame each had multi-assist games, with two each, while Connor Bedard had one assist and nine shots on goal, giving him 87 points on the season.
The Wheat Kings got goals from five different sources: Nate Danielson, Jake Chiasson, Nolan Ritchie, Mason Ward and Brett Hyland.
The regulation loss means the Pats remain in 11th-place in the Eastern Conference, six points back of the 8th-place Swift Current Broncos. The Pats have three games in hand on them, but just five games remaining on the schedule.
THE GOALS
1st Period
No Goals
2nd Period
BDN 1-0 at 5:17 - Nate Danielson (22), assisted by Jake Chiasson and Chad Nychuk (PPG) // Danielson deflected in a shot-pass from Chiasson on the power play to open the scoring.
REG 1-1 at 6:36 - Logan Nijhoff (18), assisted by Layton Feist (21) // Feist's shot from the mid-point went wide, but banked off the end boards to Nijhoff, who potted it top-shelf for a quick response.
REG 2-1 at 15:29 - Jakob Brook (4), assisted by Layton Feist (22) and Zane Rowan (2) // Brook deflected home a point shot from Feist.
BDN 2-2 at 16:46 - Jake Chiasson (4), assisted by Nolan Ritchie and Vincent Iorio // Chiasson flew into the zone down the left wing and was forced to his backhand, but he was able to roof it past Sim on the short side to tie the game.
BDN 3-2 at 19:40 - Nolan Ritchie (31), assisted by Jake Chiasson and Vincent Iorio // A stretch pass from Iorio found Chiasson at the offensive blue line, who then saw Ritchie heading to the net and fed him a pass. Ritchie was stopped on the initial redirect, but put in the rebound.
3rd Period
BDN 4-2 at 1:23 - Mason Ward (4), assisted by Nate Danielson and Brett Hyland // Ward let a wrist shot rip from the top of the left circle to kick off the third period.
REG 3-4 at 3:38 - Logan Nijhoff (19), assisted by Connor Bedard (42) and Neithan Salame (8) (PPG) // Bedard faked the shot to open up a lane from the top of the left circle on the power play and then let his wrist shot fly, where it was then tipped in by Nijhoff, who was the only one in front of the net.
BDN 5-3 at 14:13 - Brett Hyland (13), assisted by Chad Nychuk and Nolan Ritchie (PPG) // Nychuk's low slap shot from the top of the umbrella on the power play was tipped in by Hyland, for what stood up as the game-winning-goal.
REG 4-5 at 17:15 - Logan Nijhoff (20), assisted by Cole Dubinsky (27) and Neithan Salame (9) // Nijhoff was once again sitting just outside the crease area and used his reach to deposit the rebound after Dubinsky was stopped from the slot.
FINAL: Pats 4 | Wheat Kings 5
STATISTICS
SOG: REG - 32 | BDN - 29
PP: REG - 1/4 | BDN - 2/4
Face-Offs: REG - 28 | BDN - 27
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Drew Sim stopped 24 of the 29 shots he faced.
Brandon: Ethan Kruger allowed four goals on 32 shots.
THEY SAID IT
Pats Assistant Coach Ken Schneider on Nijhoff's First Career Hat-Trick: "I was really proud of Logan [Nijhoff] to score his hat-trick, his first in the Western Hockey League, at this stage of the season and for him in terms of his career. He wears the captain's C for a reason and he really led by example. He was all over the ice tonight, working his tail off and it really showed in his game...Logan's game is down low at the net. He was frustrating Brandon's defence...It's important for Logan to play that style of game and he was in their face all night long."
3 STARS
Jake Chiasson - BDN: 1G, 2A, 5 SOG
Logan Nijhoff - REG: 3G, 4 SOG
Nate Danielson - BDN: 1G, 1A, 3 SOG
UP NEXT
The Pats next game is a visit to Swift Current on Friday April 8, with the Prince Albert Raiders making the trip down to the Brandt Centre on Saturday, April 9.
Western Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2022
- Chiefs Host Everett Silvertips in Regular-Season Home Finale - Spokane Chiefs
- Warriors Sign 2020 Draft Pick Cosmo Wilson - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Oil Kings Announce First Two Playoff Home Dates - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Feist Tallies Game's Only Goal in OT to Lift Rockets - Kelowna Rockets
- Nijhoff Hat-Trick Not Enough as Wheat Kings Hold off Pats - Regina Pats
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