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| Robbie Holmes (#32) shows his excitement after a goal from Connor Hobbs. |
REGINA – If you live in Regina and weren’t at the Brandt
Centre on Friday night, you missed out.
In one of the best playoff major junior playoff battles you
might see anywhere, the host Regina Pats outlasted the visiting Swift Current
Broncos 3-2 before a sellout crowd of 6,484 energetic spectators.
The win
allowed the Pats to stay alive in the best-of-seven WHL Eastern Conference
semifinal series between the two clubs cutting the Broncos edge in that
department 3-2.
The Broncos will try to close things out again on Saturday
when the series switches back to Swift Current for a 7 p.m. start at the Credit
Union i-Plex. The way things played out on Friday in Regina, the Broncos could
have been heading home with a series win, if they were able to make just a couple
of more plays.
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| Connor Hobbs controls the puck on the point for the Pats. |
Friday’s battle at the Brandt Centre was a raucous one.
While the large majority of the rink were cheering for the host Pats, the
Broncos arrived in the Saskatchewan capital with a healthy contingent of
supporters that made a lot of noise.
The action before the Pats 19th sellout crowd of
the 2016-17 campaign on the ice was a seesaw battle that was filled with a
number of story lines. The Pats, who were rated first in the final Canadian
Hockey League rankings that were released on March 22, stormed out of the gate
getting the first eight shots on goal.
The Broncos didn’t get their first shot on net until the
7:10 mark of the opening frame, when Pats netminder Tyler Brown turned away
Broncos winger Lane Pederson from the slot.
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| Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin scored a power-play goal in the third period. |
Momentum turned in the second half of the opening 20 minutes
when the Pats paraded to the penalty box on a trio of minor infractions. On the
third of those chances, Broncos defenceman Colby Sissons blasted home a shot
from the point to give the visitors a 1-0 edge with 2:44 to play in the first.
You could feel a hush fall over the Regina faithful, when that tally went in.
The hosts came back to life on a power-play opportunity late
in the frame, and Pats star centre Sam Steel snipped the equalizer through a
screen with 13.5 seconds remaining in the opening 20 minutes.
Early in the second, the Pats jumped ahead 3-1 scoring a
pair of goals 38 seconds apart from each other. First, Pats star defenceman
Connor Hobbs scored to give the hosts a 2-1 edge putting a puck home during a
net scramble in front of the Swift Current goal.
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| Tyler Brown makes one of his 30 saves for the Pats. |
After that marker, the Pats went up 3-1 scoring a more
finesse goal as Steel found linemate Nick Henry on a backdoor feed on a rush,
and Henry made no mistake scoring into an empty cage.
The Broncos had a big chance to cut the gap at the 8:52 mark
of the third, when Pats winger Austin Wagner was given a major penalty for a
knee-on-knee hit to Broncos overage centre Ryley Lindgren. The infraction will
trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.
Pats fans loudly showed their displeasure at the call during
the ensuing Broncos power play. A few booed Lindgren, who remained in the game,
every time he touched the puck.
Near the end of that power-play chance, Swift Current pulled
to within 3-2, when Broncos captain Glenn Gawdin tipped home a shot from the
wall by star winger Tyler Steenbergen.
In the final 90 seconds, the Broncos pulled netminder Jordan
Papirny for the extra attacker, had pressure in the Regina zone, but couldn’t
generate a solid scoring chance.
Brown made 30 stops to pick up the win in goal for the Pats.
Papirny turned away 33 shots including a third period penalty shot by Pats
centre Braydon Buziak to take the loss in the Broncos net.
The injury front also provided some dramatics also on Friday
night. On the Swift Current side, Pederson left the contest in the first period
with an injury and did not return.
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| Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed but didn’t play Friday. |
Pats import winger Filip Ahl returned to the lineup after
missing three games undergoing tests for the mumps.
Pats captain Adam Brooks dressed
for the first time after taking a knee-on-knee hit in his team’s Game 2 win
over the Broncos.
He was pretty much pinned to the Regina bench and opened the
gate occasionally for his teammates.
Whether Brooks or Pederson plays in Game 6 on Saturday
remains to be seen.
With that said, Game 5 in Regina was a barnburner. Both
sides look like they are far from finished in this set.
Now see what the next chapter will look like in less than 24
hours, because it appears anything can happen.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
