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On the same day a musical number about him was making the rounds, Connor Bedard did a number on the Winnipeg Ice.
The projected No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft had four goals and an assist Friday as the Pats beat the Ice 5-3 in front of 4,949 onlookers at the Brandt Centre.
It was the second four-goal game of the WHL regular season for Bedard and the eighth time this season that he has recorded at least five points in a contest.
His ninth career hat trick as a Pat broke a tie with Jordan Eberle for the franchise record. Bedard has played 123 regular-season games with the Pats; Eberle recorded eight hat tricks over 254 career regular-season games with Regina.
Bedard’s output Friday fattened his season totals in 46 games played to 58 goals (13 more than his nearest competitor in the WHL) and 119 points (24 more than the league’s second-leading scorer).
In 18 games with Regina since returning from the 2023 world junior hockey championship, Bedard has 31 goals and 24 assists.
The Pats’ fifth straight win improved their record to 30-24-2-1, good for sixth place in Eastern Conference. They haven’t lost since falling 7-4 to Winnipeg on Feb. 18.
The loss Friday dropped the first-place Ice’s record to 48-9-1-0.
After a scoreless first period, Easton Armstrong (at 2:44), Matthew Savoie (3:18) and Carson Lambos (6:29) sniped in short order in the second period to give Winnipeg a 3-0 lead.
Then Bedard went to work, scoring at 7:12 and 12:07 of the middle frame and assisting on Connor Howe’s goal at 18:43 to send the game to the third period tied.
Bedard scored the eventual game-winning goal at 1:35 of the third and added an insurance goal into an empty net at 19:38 to complete the scoring.
Stanislav Svozil added three assists for Regina, while Howe and Zack Stringer each recorded two helpers.
Drew Sim stopped 31 shots in the Pats’ net. Winnipeg goalie Daniel Hauser made 23 saves.
Regina is to play host to the Red Deer Rebels on Saturday. Game time at the Brandt Centre is 7 p.m.
