The Regina Pats opened their second-half schedule with a convincing 7-3 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday at Westoba Place.
14 players gathered at least a point for the Regiment, with five Pats players recording multi-point games. Caden Brown registered his fourth career multi-goal game with a two goal effort, while Tye Spencer chipped in with a goal and an assist. Cameron Kuzma, Keets Fawcett and Zackary Shantz each recorded multi-assist contests, and Kelton Pyne made 24 saves for his eighth win of the season.
It was a three goal first period that gave the Pats a much needed lead as the Wheat Kings would make things close at 3-2 in the third. An insurance goal from Spencer late in the second period lifted the Pats ahead by two going into the third. The Pats then scored three more in the final stanza, leading to their fourth road victory of the season. That’s one shy of their road win total in 2023-24.
The Pats were a goal shy of their season high of eight set back on October 19 vs. Seattle (8-0 W). The Pats also improved to 2-0-1 in games at Westoba Place this season.
FINAL SCORE: Pats 7, Wheat Kings 3
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Pats at 3:09 – Caden Brown (9), assisted by Ephram McNutt & Cameron Kuzma // McNutt’s shot from the high slot pinballed around to Brown who eventually got a piece of the puck and chipped it past McFadyen to give the Pats an early 1-0 lead.
1-1: Wheat Kings at 13:30 – Mattteo Michels (13), assisted by Luke Shipley & Dylan Ronald // Shipley got a rebound in the slot area and sent a no-look pass to Michels who one-timed it past Pyne to tie the contest up at 1-1.
2-1: Pats at 14:01 – Zach Pantelakis (3), assisted by Tye Spencer & Kolten Bridgeman // Spencer’s pass bounced around in front of the Wheat Kings net and Pantelakis sent it past the Wheat Kings netminder to restore the Pats lead at 2-1.
3-1: Pats at 18:58 – Braxton Whitehead (4), assisted by Jace Egland // The Pats broke into the Wheat Kings zone with even numbers and Egland sent a nice pass to Whitehead in front who buried it to give the Pats a two-goal lead at 3-1.
Second Period
3-2: Wheat Kings at 5:55 – Nolan Flamand (7), assisted by Caleb Hadland & Giorgos Pantelas (SH) // The Wheat Kings sped into the Pats zone while down a man and Hadland sent a pass to Flamand who ripped a one-timer from the right circle to pull the hometown club back to within one at 3-2.
4-2: Pats at 16:45 – Tye Spencer (9), assisted by John Babcock // Babcock got the puck at the left point just inside the Wheat Kings line and fired a shot towards the goal that Spencer tipped home, making it 4-2 Pats.
Third Period
5-2: Pats at 5:55 – Caden Brown (10), assisted by Keets Fawcett & Zackary Shantz // The Pats were able to keep the puck inside the Wheat Kings zone. Fawcett found Brown down low all alone and he did a nice inside, outside deke to beat McFadyen to extend the Pats’ lead to 5-2.
5-3: Wheat Kings at 10:07 – Caleb Hadland (13), assisted by Dylan Ronald // Hadland streaked in along the left wing boards and he fired a shot from edge of the circle that beat Pyne to the short side to make it 5-3.
6-3: Pats at 13:53 – Aleksey Chichkin (3), assisted by Cameron Kuzma & Cohen Klassen // Chichkin got the puck at the point and let a wrist shot go from the point that eluded the Wheat Kings goaltender to give the Pats a 6-3 lead.
7-3: Pats at 17:45 – Zachary Lansard (2), assisted by Keets Fawcett & Zackary Shantz // Shantz fired a cross-ice pass to Fawcett who’s shot was stopped by McFadyen but the rebound went to Lansard who batted it past the down-and-out goalie to make it 7-3.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 12-11-15–38 | Brandon – 7-9-11–27
PP: Regina – 0/4 | Brandon – 0/2
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne (24 saves / 27 shots)
Brandon: Dylan McFadyen (31 saves / 38 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Caden Brown (2G) – Pats
Second: Caleb Hadland (1G-1A) – Wheat Kings
Third: Tye Spencer (1G-1A) – Pats
JUST NOTES
- Ephram McNutt made his Pats debut, picking up an assist. He is the 1,449th player to play in a regular season or playoff contest in franchise history.
- Jace Egland tallied an assist and has stretched his point streak to a trio of games (1G-2A).
- Tye Spencer had two points (1G-1A) and has points in back-to-back games and four points in his last four games (1G-3A).
- Zach Pantelakis has notched a goal in back-to-back games and has three points (2G-1A) in his last five games.
- Caden Brown scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season and has now scored in three straight games (4G). He has nine points (6G-3A) in 12 games with the Pats. He’s also scored in five of his last six games.
- Braxton Whitehead picked up his fourth of the season, ending a 10 game goalless drought.
- Aleksey Chichkin scored his third goal of the season, which ties him with Dayton Deschamps and Matt Paranych (all with Medicine Hat) for the team lead for a defenceman.
- Cameron Kuzma had a pair of assists for his first career two-point game.
- Zackary Shantz tallied two assists, giving him nine points (2G-7A) in his last seven games.
- The Pats improved to 7-1-1 when scoring 4+ goals in a contest.
COMING UP
The Pats return home on Saturday night, December 28th when they host the NIckelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Night at the Brandt Centre. Get your tickets at reginapats.com
