 |
| Pats LW Robbie Holmes (#32) battles Titan D Elijah Francis for the puck. |
Just 13 seconds into the round robin clash, Pats overage
right-winger Cameron Hebig lifted a shot over top of a sprawled out Titan
netminder Evan Fitzpatrick to give his side a 1-0 lead. The Titan proceeded to
rally back to take a 6-2 lead after the second period chasing Pats starting
17-year-old netminder Max Paddock from the Regina goal stopping 26-of-32 shots
fired his way.
Veteran Ryan Kubic came in at the start of the third and was
beaten on the first shot he faced as Titan right-winger Ethan Crossman fired
home his second goal of the contest to put the QMJHL champions up 7-2.
 |
| The Pats celebrate a goal 13 seconds in from Cameron Hebig. |
At that
point, it looked like the Titan were about to put the final stamp on a
statement game to show they might be the best club in the four-team field.
The tournament hosting Pats proceeded to counter with four straight
goals to pull to within 7-6. The last tally was a long seeing-eye point shot
from overage centre Matthew Bradley with 1:57 to play in the third bringing the
crowd of 5,832 spectators at the Brandt Centre into a frenzy.
Following Bradley’s goal, the Titan look fragile, and it
felt like the next Pats shot could force overtime.
After the Pats had an offensive zone faceoff with 18.4
seconds to play, Titan captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel made a desperate diving
stab to knock a Pats pass attempt along the blue-line into the centre ice zone.
 |
| Defenceman Noah Dobson had two goals and two assist for the Titan. |
Titan offensive defenceman Noah Dobson raced up ice, tracked
down the puck and fired it into an empty Pats cage with one second to play to
seal an 8-6 victory for Acadie-Bathurst. Dobson finished the contest with two
goals and two assists.
The Titan, who were playing on back-to-back nights, improved
to 2-0 and locked up a berth into the tournament’s semifinal contest on Friday.
The Pats fell to 1-1 with the setback.
The clash between the two sides was a thriller for the fans.
By the looks of the stands at the Brandt Centre, it appeared there were very
few no-shows in the event’s third round robin game.
It was an aggravating one for the coaches. Both sides had to
consider the possibility of delating the video on this one.
With the WHL champion Swift Current Broncos set to battle
the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs in a battle of 0-1 squads on Monday at 6
p.m. at the Brandt Centre, the Memorial Cup is up for grabs.
It is hard to
declare any team a favourite. As the overused sports cliché goes, the club that
shows up and makes the most plays on any given day is going to win.
 |
| Pats C Matthew Bradley (#77) steers the puck away from trouble. |
In the battle between the Titan and Pats, the goaltending on
either side did not inspire confidence. The skilled players on both squads did
net some nice goals, but a number of soft shots made it through for each side
too.
Fitzpatrick looked good over the opening 40 minutes, but in
the third period, it looked like at times he wouldn’t have been able to stop a
beach ball.
 |
| Captain Sam Steel had four assists for the Pats. |
After being beat on the first shot he faced, Kubic, who is
eligible to return for an overage campaign, almost mishandled a shot just
seconds later nearly allowing that puck to go into the Regina goal. It took a
video review to ensure the Titan did not score at that moment.
Kubic stopped three of four shots sent his way.
Kubic stopped three of four shots sent his way.
Besides getting a huge night from Dobson, Truchon-Viel and
Liam Murphy had big nights for Acadie-Bathurst. Truchon-Viel had a pair of
goals and an assist, while Murphy had a goal and two assists. Samuel Asselin
had Acadie-Bathurst’s lone other tally.
 |
| Noah Dobson, left, and Jeffrey Truchon-Viel enjoy a Titan empty-net goal. |
Offensive defenceman Josh Mahura had a goal and an assist to
help out the Pats cause as well.
Going forward, the Titan will close out their round robin
schedule taking on the Bulldogs on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Brandt Centre. With
a win in that contest, the Titan would lock up a berth in the Memorial Cup
championship game this coming Sunday.
The Pats close their round robin schedule taking on the
Broncos at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Brandt Centre. If the Pats pull out a win
in that contest, they will lock up a spot in Friday’s semifinal.
It remains to be seen if the Titan or the Pats can make good
on the upcoming opportunities they have.
Steenbergen watch on for the Broncos
 |
| Broncos star Tyler Steenbergen, left, is listed as day-to-day due to injury. |
Steenbergen was lost in the Broncos opening game of the
Memorial Cup on Saturday, when the WHL champions fell 4-3 in overtime to the
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
Early in the second period, Titan captain Jeffrey
Truchon-Viel hit Steenbergen from the side and sent the Sylvan Lake, Alta.,
product flying awkwardly into the boards. Steenbergen was assisted off the ice
by Broncos athletic trainer Jamie LeBlanc and did not return to the contest.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who writes for Sportsnet.ca and is a
former Saskatoon StarPhoenix beat writer who covered the WHL’s Saskatoon
Blades, caught up with Broncos head coach and director of player personnel
Manny Viveiros on Sunday. Nugent-Bowman asked Viveiros about Steenbergen’s
status, and Viveiros said Steenbergen is listed as day-to-day.
The Broncos face the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs on Monday
at 6 p.m. at the Brandt Centre in a key clash between two teams who are 0-1 in
the round robin.
 |
| Tyler Steenbergen has been a dynamic player for the Broncos. |
During the past two regular seasons, Steenbergen had been
outstanding. In the 2016-17 campaign, Steenbergen appeared in all of the
Broncos 72 regular season games piling up 51 goals, 39 assists and a plus-26
rating in the plus-minus department. Thanks to those efforts, he was selected
in the fifth round and 128th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft by
the Arizona Coyotes.
In the 2017-18 regular season, Steenbergen appeared in 56
regular season games with the Broncos piling up 47 goals, 55 assists and a
plus-52 rating. During the Broncos record 26-game run through the WHL playoffs
to capture the league title, Steenbergen had 12 goals, 15 assists and a
plus-seven rating.
At the last world junior hockey championship, Steenbergen
scored the winning goal for Canada late in the gold medal game in a 3-1 victory
over Sweden on Jan. 5 in Buffalo, New York.
On March 6, Steenbergen signed a three-year NHL entry-level
contract with the Coyotes.
In Saturday’s game with the Titan, Steenbergen scored once
before departing due to injury.
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