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A return home did not go the way the Regina Pats hoped on Sunday afternoon.
The Prince Albert Raiders ruined the team’s homecoming following a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win in front of a season-high 5,519 fans at the Brandt Centre.
Despite the outcome, the coach was pretty happy after the game.
“I thought their goalie stole it for them, not that they played bad,” said John Paddock.
“I can’t remember a game that we deserved to win more in the last 15 months than we did deserve that game and against a team that’s in the top 10 in Canada with a young team like ours. We played really good. We play like that all time, which we won’t play like that all of the time, you’ll win a lot of games.”
When all was said and done, the Pats outshot the Raiders 39-29. Even though that might not be the widest of margins, Raiders rookie goalie Ian Scott made a number of big saves. That included two game savers late in the third period on Pats forward Lane Zablocki.
“Normally, I think I’d score there. He made an unbelievable save,” said Zablocki.
“When you run into a hot goalie it’s tough to score and that showed it right there.”
Even though both combined for 68 shots in the game, goals were hard to come by.
The Pats had their chances early thanks to three powerplays in the first eight minutes of the game, including a brief five-on-three but weren’t able to beat Scott.
“We were having trouble a little bit today. Just things we need to work on,” said defenceman Connor Hobbs.
It wasn’t until over 11 minutes into the third period that the scoreless tie was broken by the Raiders Simon Stransky. Stransky was left wide open at the side of the net and took a perfect cross-crease pass from Austin Glover to beat Pats goalie Daniel Wapple.
With time running out on the clock, Hobbs finally beat Scott with a cannon from the point with 1:06 to go, securing the Pats at least a point in the standings.
After both teams exchanged some chances in overtime, Raiders defenceman Jesse Lees eventually got open in front of the net and slid one under Wapple giving Prince Albert the win.
The loss is the first for the Pats in overtime this year. They now sit at 6-5-1-0 on the season. The Pats return to action Friday night at the Brandt Centre as they host the Moose Jaw Warriors.
THREE STARS
- Raiders goalie Ian Scott: the 16-year-old played above his age against the Pats. Scott was the reason the Raiders were able to win on Sunday making a number of big saves and getting some luck along the way.
- Raiders defenceman Jesse Lees: Lees scored the game winning goal at the 2:42 mark of the overtime period.
- Pats goalie Daniel Wapple: Even though Wapple wasn’t tested as much as Scott was in this one, he did have to make some tough saves to give them a chance with how well Scott was playing at the other end of the ice.
