Tigers Assume 3-1 Series Lead

REGINA – The Regina Pats are now on the brink of elimination after a 4-2 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers in Game 4 on Wednesday at the Brandt Centre, falling behind 3-1 in their best-of-seven first-round series.

The Pats opened the scoring early in the first period, as Zachary Lansard netted his second of the playoffs at 8:28. Cohen Klassen carried the puck over the line and delivered a perfect feed to Lansard, who made a smooth move to his backhand and beat Carter Casey low to give Regina a 1-0 lead.

Medicine Hat responded quickly. Just over two minutes later, Kade Stengrim finished off a backdoor pass from Jonas Woo to tie the game 1-1. The Tigers then capitalized on a Regina turnover late in the period, with rookie Gavin Kor burying a backhand chance in front to give the visitors a 2-1 lead heading into the intermission.

The Tigers extended their lead in the second period. Liam Ruck made it 3-1 at 11:57 after taking a slick saucer pass from Andrew Basha, slipping it past Taylor Tabashniuk. Minutes later, on the power play, Noah Davidson broke in alone and chipped a backhander over Tabashniuk to push the lead to 4-1.

Regina showed some pushback late in the middle frame. Ruslan Karimov continued his strong series, scoring his third goal in as many games at 15:19. After driving hard to the net on an odd-man rush, Karimov circled behind the goal and tucked in a wraparound to cut the deficit to 4-2.

That would be as close as the Pats would get, however, as a scoreless third period sealed the win for Medicine Hat.

Both teams finished with 30 shots on goal, with Tabashniuk giving Regina a chance with 26 saves, while Casey turned aside 28 shots for the Tigers. The Tigers also held the edge on special teams, going 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Pats were held scoreless on three opportunities.

(Dante DeCaria/ReginaPats.com)