CALGARY — The Regina Pat Canadians have found themselves in close games throughout the Circle K Classic, but they took it to another level in their first playoff contest on Monday afternoon.
And in dramatic fashion, at that.
The Pat Cs scored three times in the final six minutes to tie the game and then added the winner in overtime to take a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pens Elite at the ultra-prestigious U18 AAA tournament in Calgary.
After having a relatively quiet round robin by his standards, Maddox Schultz had an absolutely massive game when his team needed it the most.
The rookie standout — projected to be the next exceptional status player in the WHL next season — scored the tying goal with one second left on the clock and then netted the overtime winner 4:17 into the first extra period.
All told, he’d score four goals and finish with six points in the contest, moving into a tie for the tournament scoring lead with six goals and 12 points.
Things looked good early for Regina, as Schultz and Jonah Sivertson answered an early goal from Pittsburgh’s Tyler Brandebura to take a 2-1 lead out of the first period.
A surge late in the second period saw the Elite go up a pair of goals, with Ken Cadwallader scoring twice and John Flood adding their other marker in the period.
Sivertson would score his seventh of the tournament with 2:26 to play in the second to get Regina back within one.
Pittsburgh appeared to have taken control of the game in the third when Latham Hutchinson scored at the 7:07 mark and Nick Snyder made it 6-3 three minutes later, but Regina was far from done.
Schultz scored his second with 5:22 remaining in regulation and Chase Surkan made it a one-goal game 56 seconds later, setting up Schultz’s game-tying and game-winning goals.
Adam Muntain turned aside 32 shots to earn the win for Regina, Luke Brassil had 26 saves for the Pens Elite.
Regina now advances to the quarter-final, where they’ll face the winner of the Northern Alberta Xtreme and Edmonton Oilers Blue at either 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.circlekclassic.ca for regular updates.
