The Regina Pats won their third straight Indigenous Celebration Night, defeating the Wenatchee Wild 4-2 Friday at the Brandt Centre.
Jace Egland redirected Kolten Bridgeman's long-range shot home with just over 10 minutes to play to give Regina a 3-2 lead. That came after the Wild tied the contest up in the third with Luka Shcherbyna's second of the night.
After the Wild led 1-0 after one, Zach Moore and Zach Lansard would score goals in the second period to put Regina ahead. Kelton Pyne made 21 saves for his 11th victory of the season.
Meanwhile, Brendan Gee suffered the loss, allowing three goals on 29 shots. The Wild fall to 1-4 on their Eastern Division road trip, which will wrap up tomorrow in Swift Current.
The victory for Regina snapped a three-game skid while securing their 14th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: Pats 4, Wild 2
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Wild at 8:13 – Luca Shcherbyna (17), assisted by Tye Spencer // Shcherbyna, drove in tight and sent a shot high glove side over Pyne to give the Wild a 1-0 lead midway through the first period.
Second Period
1-1: Pats at 4:35 – Zach Moore (10), assisted by Keets Fawcett & Matt Paranych (PP) // Fawcett's shot redirected off a body and then off Moore past Gee to tie the game up at 1-1.
2-1: Pats at 14:54 – Zachary Lansard (6), assisted by Cameron Kuzma // Lansard got the puck in the neutral zone, raced in on a one-on-one, and from the high slot, let a shot go that beat Gee to give the Pats a 2-1 lead.
Third Period
2-2: Wild at 6:38 – Luca Shcherbyna (18), assisted by Miles Cooper & Tye Spencer (PP) // Pyne got a piece of Shcherbyna's shot from the right circle but not enough as the puck found its way past the Pats netminder to make it 2-2.
3-2: Pats at 8:57 – Jace Egland (5), assisted by Kolten Bridgeman & Cameron Kuzma // Kuzma, worked the puck to Bridgeman at the right point. He then let a shot go that was redirected in by a wide-open Egland to restore the Pat's lead at 3-2.
4-2: Pats at 19:27 – Zach Pantelakis (10), unassisted (EN) // Pantelakis got the puck in the defensive zone and sent a long backhander from the circle that hit the empty net to give the Pats a 4-2 lead and all but seal the game.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 13-4-13–30 | Wenatchee – 9-6-8–23
PP: Regina – 1/4 | Wenatchee – 1/2
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne (21 saves / 23 shots)
Wenatchee: Brendan Gee (26 saves / 29 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Luca Shcherbyna (2G) – Wild
Second: Zachary Lansard (1G) – Pats
Third: Kolten Bridgeman (1A) – Pats
JUST NOTES
- Zach Moore scored his 100th of the season. He now has three points (1G-2A) in his last four games, including back-to-back games (1G-1A).
- Zachary Lansard ended a five-game pointless drought with his sixth of the season.
- Jace Egland scored his fifth of the season.
- Zach Pantelakis scored his 10th of the season.
- Keets Fawcett has four points (2G-2A) in his last five games.
- Matt Paranych had an assist, giving him four points (1G-3A) in his last seven contests.
- Cameron Kuzma had a pair of assists and now has a goal and four assists in his last six contests.
- Kolten Bridgeman ended a 13-game pointless skid with an assist.
- Kelton Pyne has now allowed two goals against in each of his last three starts (2-1-0)
- The Pats improved to 14-29-4-2 while the Wild fell to 18-28-3-1.
COMING UP
The Pats are on the road to the Bridge City tomorrow night as they head to face the Saskatoon Blades in a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.
