WHL Regina Pats

Pats Host Playoff Game for First Time in Five Years

Published on April 4, 2023 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Regina Pats News Release


Regina, Sask. - The Regina Pats host the Saskatoon Blades for game four of this best of seven first-round playoff series at 7:00 p.m. inside the Brandt Centre.

The Pats carry a 2-0 series lead into their first home playoff date since March 31, 2018. The Pats opened the series on Friday with a 6-1 victory and followed it up with a 6-5 overtime win on Sunday, taking two away from the Blades on the road. That Pats are the only team in the WHL this post-season to win both their games to open the series on the road.

In Regina's 6-5 win, it was Zack Stringer's power play goal less than three minutes into the extra-frame that sealed game two.

The Pats held a 2-1 lead after one and a 4-3 lead after two. The Blades scored two unanswered goals less than 20 seconds apart for a 5-4 lead. Connor Bedard tied the game late to complete the hat-trick and force overtime. Bedard once again led the way offensively with a five point game (3G-2A). Stanislav Svozil tallied a goal and an assist while Suzdalev picked up three assists. Drew Sim grabbed the victory, making 42 saves, with 18 of them in the third period.

The Blades got goals from Justin Lies, Lukas Hansen, Josh Pillar, Jayden Weins and Vaughn Watterodt in the defeat. Both Austin Elliott and Ethan Chadwick appeared in net for the Blades. Elliott was yanked after four goals on 13 shots through 32:31. Chadwick allowed two goals on six shots over 30:27.

Connor Bedard leads the series in scoring with eight points (5G-3A) in two contests, while Stanislav Svozil is right behind him with four points (2G-2A), scoring in back-to-back games. Alexander Suzdalev has also chipped in with four assists and Drew Sim has posted a .920 save-percentage through two starts.

The big x-factor so far as been the penalty kill so far in the series, as Regina is a perfect 6-for-6 while short-handed this post-season, going 2-f0r-2 on game one and 4-f0r-4 in game two.

HOW THE TEAMS MATCHUP

Saskatoon Regina

Team Record 48-15-4-1 - 101 points 34-30-3-1 - 72 points

Division Ranking 2nd East 4th East

Conference Ranking 3rd Eastern 6th Eastern

League Ranking 5th 11th

Past 10 Games 8-2-0-0 3-6-1-0

Streak 2-0-0-0 0-2-0-0

Last Game 6-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 25 2023) Final 5-3 L vs Prince Albert (Mar 25 2023) Final

Home Record 25-6-3-0 18-15-0-1

Away Record 23-9-1-1 16-15-3-0

GF 257 262

GA 171 277

PP (Overall) (73/265) 27.5% (65/243) 26.7%

PP (Home) (40/138) 29.0% (31/117) 26.5%

PP (Away) (33/127) 26.0% (34/126) 27.0%

PK (Overall) (43/245) 82.4% (65/283) 77.0%

PK (Home) (22/124) 82.3% (24/124) 80.6%

PK (Away) (21/121) 82.6% (41/159) 74.2%

PP vs. Opp. (8/19) 42.1% (4/18) 22.2%

PK vs. Opp. (4/18) 77.8% (8/19) 57.9%

Leading Rookie Keller (13-17-30) Suzdalev (38-48-86)

Most PIM Lies - 82 Vaughan - 78

Team PIM/GM 10.4/Game 12.5/Game

Leading Scorers Wong (27-59-86) Bedard (71-72-143)

Sidorov (40-36-76) Suzdalev (38-48-86)

Lisowsky (38-33-71) Howe (36-49-85)

De La Gorgendiere (12-53-65) Svozil (11-67-78)

Roulette (24-39-63) Valis (20-28-48)

Last 5 Games 6-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 25 2023) Final 5-3 L vs Prince Albert (Mar 25 2023) Final

3-2 W vs Regina (Mar 24 2023) Final 3-2 L @ Saskatoon (Mar 24 2023) Final

4-2 L vs Regina (Mar 19 2023) Final 4-2 W @ Saskatoon (Mar 19 2023) Final

3-2 W vs Brandon (Mar 18 2023) Final 7-3 W @ Moose Jaw (Mar 18 2023) Final

3-2 W @ Swift Current (Mar 15 2023) Final 9-5 L vs Moose Jaw (Mar 17 2023) Final

Leading After 1st 29-3-3-0 20-6-2-0

Leading After 2nd 36-1-2-1 26-2-2-0

Tied After 1st 13-5-1-1 8-3-0-0

Tied After 2nd 9-1-1-0 4-7-0-0

Trailing After 1st 6-7-0-0 6-21-1-1

Trailing After 2nd 3-13-1-0 4-21-1-1

Out Shooting Opponents 31-9-2-0 12-9-0-1

Out Shot by Opponents 14-5-1-1 20-21-3-0

1-Goal Games 14-1-4-1 12-6-3-1

2-Goal Games 9-9-0-0 4-4-0-0

3-Goal Games 12-3-0-0 10-8-0-0

WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN

Radio: 620ckrm.com

Stream: WHL Live

TV: AccessNowSports

REGULAR SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD (2-4-0)

The Pats and Blades have played each other 34 times in playoff games, with Regina going 17-16-1 all-time. The Pats have won three of their six all-time series, while losing both round-robin games in 1986.

Date Road Home Time Result

November 13th Regina Saskatoon 4:00 p.m. CST L, 5-2

December 17th Saskatoon Regina 7:00 p.m. CST L, 6-1

January 13th Saskatoon Regina 7:00 p.m. CST W, 7-4

March 5th Saskatoon Regina 4:00 p.m. CST L, 5-2

March 19th Regina Saskatoon 4:00 p.m. CDT W, 4-2

March 24th Regina Saskatoon 7:00 p.m. MDT L, 3-2

It was the Saskatoon Blades ousting the Regina Pats 4-2 in the season series, outscoring the Pats 23-18 through six contests. On the flip side, the Pats went 2-2 in the second-half of the season against the Blades, while outscoring them 15-14 over their last four contests against Saskatoon.

REGULAR SEASON HEAD-TO-HEAD - INDIVIDUAL STATS

Saskatoon Blades

# Name GP G A PTS PIM +/-

38 Trevor Wong 6 7 8 15 4 3

8 Brandon Lisowsky 6 6 3 9 4 0

5 Aidan De La Gorgendiere 6 1 7 8 2 0

19 Egor Sidorov 5 3 4 7 4 4

34 Conner Roulette 5 1 5 6 2 5

24 Tanner Molendyk 6 2 3 5 2 5

61 Jake Chiasson (total) 7 1 3 4 0 1

BDN 3 1 0 1 0 0

SAS 4 0 3 3 0 1

9 Jayden Wiens 4 2 1 3 4 -1

28 Lukas Hansen 6 1 2 3 6 0

3 Blake Gustafson 5 0 3 3 4 4

47 Charlie Wright 6 0 3 3 0 3

29 Jordan Keller 6 1 1 2 0 4

18 Vaughn Watterodt 6 1 1 2 7 -2

# Name GP W L OTL SL Mins GA GAA SV%

31 Austin Elliott 4 3 1 0 0 238:14 10 2.52 0.904

33 Ethan Chadwick 2 1 1 0 0 116:05 8 4.13 0.800

Regina Pats

# Name GP G A PTS PIM +/-

98 Connor Bedard 5 5 4 9 2 -2

91 Alexander Suzdalev 6 3 4 7 4 -3

43 Tanner Howe 6 2 5 7 4 -2

11 Stanislav Svozil 5 0 7 7 2 3

55 Sam Oremba 6 2 2 4 0 2

22 Steel Quiring (total) 4 2 0 2 2 1

REG 3 1 0 1 2 1

EVT 1 1 0 1 2 0

13 Zack Stringer 5 1 1 2 0 -3

27 Borya Valis 4 1 1 2 2 1

40 Parker Berge 6 0 2 2 6 -3

37 X Easton Armstrong 2 1 0 1 0 -3

38 Brayden Barnett 4 1 0 1 2 0

52 Braxton Whitehead 6 1 0 1 0 -3

29 Tanner Brown 6 0 1 1 2 -4

# Name GP W L OTL SL Mins GA GAA SV%

31 Kelton Pyne 1 1 0 0 0 60:00 2 2.00 0.955

33 Drew Sim 5 1 4 0 0 295:00 21 4.27 0.858

HEADLINES

Connor Bedard swept the WHL awards on Monday, being named the league's Player of the Week after eight points (5G-3A) in two playoff games. He was also named the March Player of the Month, scoring 32 points (19G-13A) over his 13 regular season and playoff appearances. The North Vancouver product has totalled 279 points (139G-140A) over 136 career WHL regular season and playoff games.

The last time the Pats opened a series with back-to-back wins against the Blades was the 1974 quarter-finals where Regina went up 2-0 before winning the series in six games. The Pats have never gone up 3-0 against the Blade in any series in history.

BY THE NUMBERS

143: Points (71G-72A) in 57 games for captain Connor Bedard led the WHL...since having his 35-game point-streak end on Feb. 3, he recorded 53 points (27G-26A) over his last 20 games, with points in 17 of those...this post-season, he's gathered eight points (5G-3A) in two games.

71: Goals in the 2022-23 season for Bedard led the WHL, while his 72 assists were tied for first...he also led the way in shots on goal (360), points per-game (2.51), goals per-game (1.24), and finished tied for first in game-winning-goals with 11.

86: Points this season (38G-48A) in 66 games this season for winger Alexander Suzdalev led all first year WHL players...he also led all rookies in goals (38), assists (48), points (86), power play goals (17), and power play assists (19), and tied for first in points per-game (1.30).

41: Number of points (6G-35A) in Stanislav Svozil's final 28 games of the season (since coming back from the World Juniors on Jan. 13)...he finished first in power play assists (36), second in assists (67), second in points per-game (1.39), and third in points (78) in just 56 games.

85: Points this season (36G-49A) for second year forward Tanner Howe was tied for 13th in the WHL...the Prince Albert, Sask. product ended the regular season on a six game point-streak (4G-4A-8PTS) with goals in three straight contests.

COMING UP

Game Date Away Home Time

4 Wednesday, April 5 Saskatoon Regina 7 p.m. MT

5* Friday, April 7 Regina Saskatoon 7 p.m. MT

6* Saturday, April 8 Saskatoon Regina 7 p.m. MT

7* Monday, April 10 Regina Saskatoon 7 p.m. MT

*If Necessary

Check out the Regina Pats Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 4, 2023


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