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WHL Regina Pats

Pats Edged by ICE, Eliminated from Playoffs After Raiders Win

April 17, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Regina Pats News Release


Regina, Sask. - The Regina Pats were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday night, following a 6-4 loss to the Winnipeg ICE, coupled with a Prince Albert Raiders win over Brandon.

The Pats really brought forth a strong effort compared to the previous night, playing a more physical brand of hockey and sticking with the Western Hockey League's top team for most of the game.

"The boys knew what was at stake today and last night was not our best effort: the last 40 minutes we played really well, but tonight we want to make sure we played a 60-minute effort," Pats assistant coach Brad Herauf said. "We did it the right way. We knew we had to play a certain type of game [to] hang in there with these guys. They're a really good hockey club. They're one of the top teams in the country for a reason, but I really liked our effort today - that we were able to commit to a style of hockey that maybe [is] a little bit outside of the kind of players we have, but we played playoff style hockey, the whole 60 minutes."

Logan Nijhoff led the way up front for Regina, potting a pair of power play goals, while Braxton Whitehead and Easton Armstrong also scored for the Regiment.

The game was 1-1 after the opening period, before Winnipeg scored two goals early in the second to take a 3-1 lead. Nijhoff's second of the game made it a one-goal deficit, but Winnipeg would score another pair in quick succession, making it 5-2 with under seven minutes remaining in the middle period.

The Pats wouldn't crumble despite the deficit, with Whitehead's goal making it a 5-3 game before the second intermission.

Armstrong scored midway through the third period to give the Pats some renewed life, but Matthew Savoie hit the empty with under a minute to go to make it a 6-4 final score.

"All year we didn't really give [the ICE] a good run, and I thought we did tonight," Nijhoff said. "We battled and competed in every area. I thought yesterday we didn't even really do that at all. They've got such skilled forwards that they capitalize on every chance they get, so [tonight was] a huge improvement from the whole team."

While the Pats have been eliminated from the playoffs, they still have one final regular season game, tomorrow at 4 p.m. against their biggest rival: the Moose Jaw Warriors. It will be the final WHL games for Nijhoff, Neithan Salame and Ryker Evans, if he's able to play, as he has missed the last few games with an injury.

THE GOALS

1st Period

WPG 1-0 at 12:10 - Jack Finley (27), assisted by Carson Lambos // Lambos threw it to the net from the left half-wall, where it was deflected by Finley and in.

REG 1-1 at 14:12 - Logan Nijhoff (23), assisted by Stanislav Svozil // Svozil skated through the neutral zone with speed up the middle and dished to his left to Nijhoff, who had some space down the wing and took advantage, moving in to the left face-off dot and firing a shot past Houser on the glove side to tie the game.

2nd Period

WPG 2-1 at 0:33 - Owen Pederson (17), assisted by Connor McClennon and Nolan Orzeck // McLennon fed Pederson on a 2-on-1 rush for his 17th of the season.

WPG 3-1 at 3:41 - Mikey Milne (38), assisted by Jakin Smallwood // After the Pats failed to clear the puck, Smallwood held the zone and saucered a pass to Milne in front of the goal, who deked to his forward and slid it past the pad of Welke.

REG 2-3 at 8:20 - Logan Nijhoff (24), assisted by Tanner Howe and Connor Bedard //

WPG 4-2 at 12:34 - Zachary Benson (25), assisted by Matthew Savoie and Tanner Brown // Savoie came down the left wing on an odd-man rush and gave it to Benson for the one-timer.

WPG 5-2 at 13:16 - Tanner Brown (7), assisted by Jakin Smallwood and Mikey Milne // Just over 30 seconds after Benson's goal, Brown scored another goal off the rush, this time wristing a shot from the left circle after a pass from Smallwood.

REG 3-5 at 14:50 - Braxton Whitehead (10), assisted by Connor Bedard and Tanner Howe // Bedard drove the net and created some havoc outside the crease, leading to Whitehead's backhand shot going off of Hauser and just dribbling over the goal line.

3rd Period

REG 4-5 at 8:22 -Easton Armstrong (6), assisted by Borya Valis and Cole Carrier // Carrier chipped and chased, putting pressure on the ICE defence with Valis behind the net. When the puck popped free, Valis quickly found Armstrong alone in front, who snapped the puck past Houser.

WPG 6-4 at 19:22 - Matthew Savoie (35), unassisted (ENG) // Savoie put the icing on the cake, getting himself a breakaway with the empty net.

FINAL: Pats 4 | ICE 6

STATISTICS

SOG: REG - 29 | WPG - 40

PP: REG - 2/4 | WPG - 0/2

Face-Offs: REG - 38 | WPG - 26

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Regina: Spencer Welke kept the Pats in the game on multiple occasions, finishing with 34 saves on 39 shots.

Winnipeg: Daniel Houser allowed four goals on 29 shots, making his second start in two nights.

3 STARS

Mikey Milne - WPG: 1G, 1A, 1 SOG

Logan Nijhoff - REG 2G, 3 SOG

Carson Lambos - WPG: 1A, 7 SOG

UP NEXT

The Pats close out the regular season on Sunday at 4 p.m. against the Moose Jaw Warriors, where Bedard will be looking to become the youngest player in WHL history to score 50 goals in a season.

Check out the Regina Pats Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from April 17, 2022


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