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WHL Regina Pats

Pats Top Tigers, Break 4-Game Slide

December 9, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Regina Pats News Release


Regina, Sask. - In his final game before heading off to Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection camp, Connor Bedard led the Regina Pats to their 10th victory of the season, thanks to a three-point night in a 4-2 win over the struggling Medicine Hat Tigers.

The win snaps a four-game losing streak for Regina, while it extends the Tigers' losing streak to 16 games.

The line of Bedard, Tanner Howe and Borya Valis shone bright in this one, as the trio combined for eight points: two goals and and an assist for Bedard, one goal and two assists for Valis, and two assists for Howe. Cole Carrier added an empty-net goal with 23 seconds remaining to seal the deal.

Matthew Kieper picked up his 10th win of the season thanks to a 34-save performance.

Scoring two goals for the Tigers was Noah Danielson, both of which came on the power play.

The Pats next contest is on Friday, December 10 against the Prince Albert Raiders in the annual Teddy Bear Toss at the Brandt Centre, with puck drop set for 7 p.m.

THE GOALS

1st Period

REG 1-0 at 13:32 - Connor Bedard (13), assisted by Borya Valis (8) and Ryker Evans (19) // Evans started the breakout for Bedard, who gave it to Valis to his right in the neutral zone for a clean entry. Valis returned it to Bedard down the right side, who tried to go back door to Howe, but instead it went off the Tigers defender and into his own net.

2nd Period

REG 2-0 at 6:20 - Connor Bedard (14), assisted by Tanner Howe (7) and Borya Valis (9) // Bedard backhanded a pass to Howe in the slot area, who spun and returned it to Bedard, the pass hit a skate but still found Bedard, who quickly went to his backhand and roofed it for his second of the night.

MH 1-2 at 19:06 - Noah Danielson (6), assisted by Lukas Svejkovsky and Daniel Baker (PPG) // Svejkovsky's one-timer from the top of the left circle missed the net, but banked off the end boards right to Danielson, who potted it home.

3rd Period

REG 3-1 at 1:35 - Borya Valis (5), assisted by Tanner Howe (8) and Connor Bedard (10) (PPG) // Howe's one-timer was flubbed, but the puck went right to Valis back door, who had an open net.

MH 2-3 at 15:53 - Noah Danielson (7), assisted by Daniel Baker and Owen MacNeil (PPG) // Danielson wired one from the right circle that snuck past Kieper on the short side.

REG 4-2 at 19:37 - Cole Carrier (9), assisted by Drew Englot (ENG) // Englot blocked a blast in the final minute with the Tigers' net empty and them pressing for the equalizer, which allowed Carrier to chop the puck off the boards and out of the zone, where he out-raced everyone and put it in the back of the empty net.

FINAL: Pats 4 | Tigers 2

STATISTICS

SOG: REG - 39 | MH - 36

PP: REG - 1/4 | MH - 2/4

Faceoffs: REG - 37 | MH - 28

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Regina: Matthew Kieper was the game's second star, thanks to a 34-save performance for his 10th win of the season.

Medicine Hat: Garin Bjorklund allowed three goals on 38 shots.

THEY SAID IT

Assistant Coach Brad Herauf : "Connor [Bedard] was really special tonight. Obviously with him leaving for the World Juniors tomorrow, he wanted to leave on a good note. We were kind of giving it to him that he owed us a couple here tonight. He's one of those players where if you put pressure on him, he seems to rise to the occasion and he did that tonight for us...I thought we had a lot of real good efforts by Drew Englot and a couple individual efforts. I think our team structure wasn't what it needed to be for a 3-1 lead. I think we got away from it. I thought guys still thought we needed to score more goals at that point with 10 minutes left. We're a young team and if you look at who was playing a lot of the minutes tonight, those were all first and second year guys in the league, so they're learning to win hockey games too right now. But guys like Drew Englot, the way he was back checking and the shot blocks in there, that's what we need to do to win."

3 STARS

Connor Bedard - REG -2G, 1A

Matthew Kieper - REG - 34/36, 10th win

Noah Danielson - MH- 2G

UP NEXT

The Pats next game is the annual Teddy Bear Toss game on Friday, December 10 against the Prince Albert Raiders! For tickets, click here.

Check out the Regina Pats Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2021


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