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Good things came in three’s for the Regina Pats on Tuesday night.
In their final game before beginning a a long road-trip, the Pats scored three goals late in the third period to beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 4-2 and win their third game in a row.
“It was certainly very important two points but it wasn’t very artistic,” said head coach John Paddock.
Even though the Pats were coming off two big wins on the weekend against very good opponents and they will face a couple of important division rivals this coming weekend, the Pats didn’t feel like they were looking past this game against the Tigers.
“I don’t think we’re looking at it that way. I think we come to play every game. We couldn’t really find our legs. Luckily enough we got some good goaltending and we put together a good third period,” Sam Steel.
The Pats easily could have folded up shop late in the third period.
Around the 10 minute mark, Tigers winger Alex Mowbray caught Pats defenceman James Hilsendager in the head when he was on his knees and in a defenceless position. Mowbray was given a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct.
During that extended time with the man-advantage, the Pats were unable to get much of anything going and the Tigers actually scored short-handed with less than 20 seconds to go in the major.
Instead of giving up on this game, the Pats actually found a little bit of life and scored three times leading win number 10 of the season.
“We had a little bit more life after we fell behind there after the power play. For some strange reason, that’s sports, you think that would absolutely kill you,” said Paddock.
For the second straight game the Pats opened the scoring in the first period. Steel scored his seventh of the season when he was left wide open in front of the net as the Pats killed their first penalty of the game.
From there, the game basically ground to a halt as neither team was able to get much going for much of the night.
Max Gerlach eventually tied the game for Medicine Hat late in the second period as he found a puck that sat on the goal line after a save from goalie Tyler Brown.
The Tigers took the lead with under six minutes to play with that short-handed goal from Mason Shaw before the Pats followed that up with goals from Jake Leschyshyn, Austin Wagner and Adam Brooks.
“That’s not going to happen again. When you don’t play good. If you’re playing good you can see a bounce back,” said Paddock.
“When you’re not playing good, (and to) get a bounce back like that? I don’t know,we’ll just take it and run.”
The Pats now hit the road for nine straight games beginning Friday night in Brandon. They return home to take on the Calgary Hitmen on Dec 9.
THREE STARS
- Pats centre Sam Steel: Steel score just one goal but was the most noticeable forward on the ice for the Pats and should have been rewarded more for his effort.
- Pats goalie Tyler Brown: Brown was busy at times on Tuesday night stopping 35 of the 37 shots fired his way.
- Tigers forward Mason Shaw: Shaw was in line to score the game winner and was a plus-two on the night.
Attendance: 3,361
