WHEAT KINGS 4 PATS 1
REGINA — Two goals 36 seconds apart early in the third period by Brandon did the Pats in Tuesday evening in a St. Patrick’s Day clash of WHL East Division rivals as the Wheat Kings skated off with a 4-1 triumph.
In a game which meant nothing to either team in the standings, the Pats were dominant early wearing special St. Patrick’s Day green uniforms. Regina captain Braden Christoffer opened the scoring just 3:00 into the contest however the teams were tied 1-1 after one.
The clubs blanked the second period and things were setting up for an intense third frame however the Wheaties’ Peter Quenneville and Nolan Patrick scored back-to-back goals in the fifth minute and Regina could not recover. Former Pat Morgan Klimchuk iced the game with an empty-netter to seal Brandon’s 52nd win of the year.
16-year old Pats star Sam Steel was again scratched due to injury while regular starting goalie Daniel Wapple got the night off. He watched the proceedings while wearing a Pats ball cap at the end of the bench.
Tyler Brown took the loss in the Regina goal making 27 saves while Brandon’s Jordan Papirny got the win making 24 stops. The Wheat Kings outshot the Pats 31-25.
Regina was 0/5 on the powerplay and 4/4 killing penalties. The announced attendance was 4215.
Regina (37-23-5-5) plays its final home game of the regular season Friday evening when they welcome the Prince Albert Raiders on CKRM Night. One lucky fan in attendance will take home $1000 courtesy of Saskatchewan’s Sports Radio. Faceoff is 7:00 (Press Box Sports Bar Pregame Show at 6:35 pm).
Meanwhile over in Moose Jaw on Tuesday, the Warriors dumped the Swift Current Broncos 6-2 to close within two points of the Broncos for the final wildcard playoff spot in the East with two games to go.
Man oh man. Was at the game last night. Pats are good team, work hard. But the BWK are really good and are going to be good for the foreseeable future. As good as there current older guys are they have a group of young guys that are going to be phenomenal.
I say the score flatters the Pats. If not for the play of Brown it would have been a blowout.
The Pats were not dominent early or at any time. The shoots on goal were Brn 11 pats 4. not dominent. The goal they got was a Brn give away. The Pats out shoot the Wheaties in the second and the zone time was pretty even.
Brandon is a heckuva team. I have Pats season tickets and have seen all the teams roll through Regina this year. Brandon is by far the runaway best team in entire WHL.