The Regina Pats wrapped up their weekend Alberta road swing with a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Pats trailed the Hitmen 3-1 after one and two periods of play before Calgary added a few more in the third, picking up their third straight win.
Julien Maze and Matt Paranych scored for the Pats, and Madden Mulawka made 26 saves in his second start of the season.
Hitmen captain Carson Wetsch led the way with three points (2G-1A). Oliver Tulk also chipped in with a pair of assists while Ben Kindel (1G-1A), Brandon Goyzynski (1G-1A) and Hunter Aura (1G-1A) rounded things out. Daniel Hauser made his Hitmen debut, stopping 29 of 31.
FINAL SCORE: Hitmen 5, Pats 2
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Hitmen at 3:52 – Carson Wetsch (15), assisted by Kalem Parker & Carson Birnie // Parker’s point shot was knocked down in front of the Pats’ goal and the puck ended up on Wetsch’s stick who flipped it past Mulawka to give the Hitmen a 1-0 lead.
1-1: Pats at 8:17 – Julien Maze (8), assisted by Zackary Shantz & Zach Lansard // The Pats entered the zone with speed. Shantz dropped a pass to Maze who cut through the slot and his wrister from the left circle beat Hauser to even things up at 1-1.
2-1: Hitmen at 9:07 – Hunter Aura (5), assisted by Connor Hvidston & Carson Wetsch // Mulawka stopped the initial shot but the puck bounced around and got to Aura at the top of the slot, and his wrist shot beat the Pats netminder to restore the Hitmen lead at 2-1.
3-1: Hitmen at 11:06– Ben Kindel (23), assisted by Oliver Tulk & Brandon Gorzynski // The Hitmen got the puck behind the Pats net. Tulk passed it to Kindel in front, and Kindel went forehand then backhand before lifting the puck over Mulawka to make it 3-1.
Second Period
No scoring.
Third Period
4-1: Hitmen at 10:18 – Brandon Gorzynski (8), assisted by Oliver Tulk & Ben Kindel // Tulk’s shot was stopped but the puck got loose in front of the Pats net and Gorzynski was able to put it past Mulawka to extend the Hitmen lead to three at 4-1.
5-1: Hitmen at 15:46 – Carson Wetsch (16), assisted by Player & Player (PP) // Wetsch’s first chance was stopped by Mulawka but he got the puck behind the goalline and banked it in off Mulawka’s pad to make it 5-1.
5-2: Pats at 16:20 – Matt Paranych (4), assisted by Zach Pantelakis & Reese Hamilton // Paranych streaked into the Hitmen zone and from the left circle he wired home his first as a Pat to make it 5-2.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 15-6-9–30 | Calgary – 10-8-13–31
PP: Regina – 0/2 | Calgary – 1/6
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Madden Mulawka (26 saves / 31 shots)
Calgary: Daniel Hauser (28 saves / 30 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Carson Wetsch (2G-1A) – Hitmen
Second: Brandon Gorzynski (1G-1A) – Hitmen
Third: Daniel Hauser (28SVS) – Hitmen
JUST NOTES
- Julien Maze ended a nine game goalless streak and a three game pointless streak with his eighth goal of the season.
- Zackary Shantz had an assist to give him 13 points (3G-10A) in his last 12 games.
- Zach Lansard ended a four-game pointless streak with an assist on the game's opening goal.
- Matt Paranych scored his first goal as a Pat. He now has points in back-to-back games.
- Zach Pantelakis notched an assist and has seven points (4G-3A) in his last seven contests.
- Reese Hamilton picked up his first assist as a Pat and in the process ended a four game pointless streak.
- The final shots were an even 31-31, breaking a stretch of six straight games of outshooting their opponent.
- The Pats fell to 10-21-4-2 while the Hitmen improved to 21-11-3-1.
COMING UP
The Pats will have the next few days off before heading down the Trans Canada to Moose Jaw to face the Warriors on Friday, January 10th. The Regiment’s next home game is Saturday January 11th when they face the Portland Winterhawks. Get your tickets at reginapats.com.
