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| Caleb Fantillo (#39) looks out to the ice after the Blades loss. |
REGINA - The Saskatoon Blades did their best to try and
spoil the party for the Regina Pats.
They stormed out to a 3-1 lead after the first period in a
WHL clash on Tuesday night at the Brandt Centre. From there, the Pats staged a
classic comeback to skate away with a 5-4 victory and lock up first place
overall in the WHL regular season standings for the first time since they last
won the Memorial Cup in 1974.
While the Pats, who improved to 49-12-7-1, celebrated
winning the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy to the delight of 4,695 spectators,
the Blades were left to ponder how much closer they are getting to the end of
their campaign.
Saskatoon dropped to 27-34-7-2 to fall perilously close to
being eliminated from playoff contention.
Entering the night, the Blades could potentially catch
either the Red Deer Rebels or the Calgary Hitmen to move into a playoff spot in
the WHL’s Eastern Conference. The Rebels (29-28-8-4) clinched a playoff berth
with an 8-3 romp over the Tigers in Medicine Hat.
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| The Pats salute their fans after Tuesday’s game. |
“It (the Blades dressing room) is pretty deflated right now,”
said Blades overage centre Jesse Shynkaruk. “Not too many words were said after
that one especially giving up a two-goal lead.
“We are not out of it yet technically, but it seems like the
odds are pretty well stacked against us. We need pretty much a miracle to get
into playoffs. We are not out of yet.
“We will see what Calgary does and go from there.”
In the opening 20 minutes, Caleb Fantillo, Dryden Michaud
and Josh Paterson all netted singles for the Blades, while Nick Henry replied
for the Pats.
The tallies from Michaud – the first of his WHL career - and
Paterson came 28 seconds apart from each other near the end of the first period
and broke a 1-1 tie.
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| Jesse Shynkaruk weaves into the offensive zone for the Blades. |
The Pats regrouped and came at the Blades in waves in the
second. Jeff de Wit started the rally for the hosts, and star centre Sam Steel
buried his 49th of the season off a giveaway from Blades import
defenceman Libor Hajek to tie things up at 3-3.
With 1:44 to play in the second, Steel sent a beauty pass to
pinching defenceman Josh Mahura on a two-on-one break to put the Pats up 4-3.
“A team like that, you can’t give them any momentum,” said
Shynkaruk. “They ran with it and got a couple of quick ones. We were kind back
on our heels, and it kind of went from there.”
In the third, Pats star offensive defenceman Connor Hobbs
blasted home his 29th of the season from the point while working the
power play to extend Regina’s advantage to 5-3 with 4:38 to play.
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| Blades rookie Dryden Michaud, centre, celebrates his first WHL goal. |
Saskatoon continued to work on the power play through to the
end of the frame but couldn’t find the equalizer.
Logan Flodell turned away 30 shots to take the loss in goal
for the Blades. Tyler Brown turned away 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for
the Pats.
Regina captain Adam Brooks picked up three assists in the win.
Regina captain Adam Brooks picked up three assists in the win.
Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock was pleased
to see his club lock up first overall and home ice advantage through the entire
WHL playoffs.
“I think any time that happens everybody is obviously
extremely happy,” said Paddock. “You think about it after you achieved it.
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| Sam Steel netted his 49th goal of the season and two assists for the Pats. |
“It doesn’t mean a lot. You get some sort of trophy, but it
is not what you are ultimately playing for.”
Paddock of course was hinting at winning the Ed Chynoweth
Cup as league champions and capturing the Memorial Cup for major junior
supremacy.
Last season with the Rebels, de Wit was part of team that
advanced to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series and played in the
Memorial Cup tournament as the host squad.
On WHL trade deadline day back on Jan. 10, de Wit was dealt
along with Mahura from the Rebels to the Pats to help Regina make a long
post-season run, and the gritty forward, who celebrated his 19th
birthday on Tuesday, was happy to help the Pats lock up first overall in the
WHL.
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| Josh Mahura works the point on the power play for the Pats. |
“I’ve done that for the most part, and it is pretty exciting
to clinch league.”
For the Blades, they are forced to mull over three straight
losses against two very tough teams. Before falling to the Pats on Tuesday, the
Blades dropped both games of a home-and-home series with the Swift Current
Broncos, who are 38-21-4-6, this past weekend. Saskatoon played good enough to
win one or even all of its last three games.
“It is frustrating for sure,” said Blades head coach Dean
Brockman. “It is disappointing. It is frustrating.
“You can use a lot of different words to describe it.
Really, it is all about lessons. For some of the younger guys that get into
this position where you need wins and you need to win games at this time of the
year it is a great experience for them.”
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| Pats captain Adam Brooks works magic in the offensive zone. |
“They’ve got how many wins for a reason, and they won the
league for a reason,” said Brockman. “Certainly, they should have that ability
to get to that level.
“We are close to being out of the playoffs, so I mean
certainly it is the tale of two different teams for sure.”
The Pats return to action Wednesday, when they host the
Broncos at 7 p.m. at the Brandt Centre.
The Blades return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders
(20-43-5-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.
“Whatever happens, we have to play hard in front of our home
fans – give them something to come out to,” said Shynkaruk. “(We need to)
finish the season hard.”
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