Pats fall to Ice in shootout in final game before Christmas break

It was a roller-coaster game between the Regina Pats and Winnipeg Ice at the Brandt Centre on Sunday — much like the first half of the home team’s WHL season to date.

The Ice earned the win and two points in the standings with a 5-4 shootout win in front of 4,310 fans, the last game the Pats were to play before their Christmas break.

“The first half (of the season) started out tough but we stuck with it and we gave ourselves a chance every single game to win,” said Pats captain Austin Pratt. “I think that’s really good motivation going into the break.

“We’ll recharge the batteries and get ready for the second half (of the season) because if we keep this up we’re going to get some better bounces and hopefully find ourselves in a playoff push.”

The Pats opened the season with an abysmal 1-10-0-0 record, which included a 10-game losing streak. Since then, they have gone 7-8-3-1.

“The last six weeks have been really good for us,” head coach Dave Struch said. “The fact that (the players) have come to the rink every day and they’ve had energy and work ethic, I think that’s real good for us — especially going into the second half when we’re talking about getting into a playoff run.

“We want to get into a playoff race and I think our guys are just about there but we do have to reset and get re-energized.”

The Pats enter the holiday break having earned five points during a four-game homestand.

It was the fourth time the Pats and Ice met this season, with Winnipeg winning all four. The Ice got goals Sunday from left-winger Jackson Leppard, centre Brad Ginnell, left-winger Owen Pederson and right-winger Connor McClennon, who also scored the shootout winner.

Regina answered during regulation with two goals from left-winger Robbie Holmes and one each from right-winger Carson Denomie and centre Ty Kolle.

Struch said the big disappointment of Sunday’s loss was the number of penalties the Pats took. Regina players were sent to the box seven times, including one near the end of the third period and one during overtime.

“They were penalties, without a doubt. When your penalty-killers are taking some of your penalties, it hurts you a little bit,” Struch said. “(The loss) wasn’t for lack of work ethic and I thought our guys worked our butts off.”

Holmes, who leads the team with 13 goals, tried to answer McClennon’s goal in the shootout but his stick snapped during his attempt.

“It’s tough luck but not much you can do,” Holmes said after the game.

Holmes has spent almost his entire junior career with the Pats, with a 36-game spell with the Everett Silvertips in the 2018-19 season the only time he has worn a different jersey. Holmes was on a few Pats teams that enjoyed a lot of success so the tough start to this season was new for the 20-year-old.

“It was a little bit of a learning curve for me; I’ve never been in that situation. It’s just learning and growing and it’s huge for the younger guys to know how much it sucks to lose,” Holmes said.

“It’s been like a roller-coaster. We started off 1-and-10 and just not being able to find our stride,” added goaltender Max Paddock, who stopped 42 of the 46 shots he faced during regulation and overtime.

Paddock has been a key cog for the Pats as they turned around their fortunes, going 4-3-1-1 in his past nine starts and giving up more than three goals only twice in those starts.

“I’ve been really proud of the guys the way that they’ve been able to compete and really take their games to the next level,” Paddock said.

Pats players will now get a chance to head home for the holidays, with their next game on the road against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Dec. 27.

“By the time we hit about Christmas, everyone’s going to be wanting to come back. It’s one of those things where you want to get home but the second you’re home, you want to get back,” Pratt said.

Struch is hoping the break doesn’t mess with the momentum the team has built up over the last month and a half.

“Ten days is probably too long but we hope that we have the guys in (the locker room) that will come back,” he said, “and the energy that they gain in their rest is something we can use to our advantage with our work ethic.”