For a brief moment, the Brandt Centre thought the Regina Pats had landed the perfect start.
Less than two minutes into Game 3, the home crowd erupted after what appeared to be an early opening goal in a crucial first-round WHL playoff matchup with the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Instead, the celebration quickly turned into frustration.
Officials waved off the goal at the 1:48 mark, ruling the puck had been played with a broken stick before crossing the line. To make matters worse for Regina, Zach Moore was assessed a delay-of-game penalty on the same sequence.
What could have been a dream start became the game’s first major turning point.
The Regina Pats never fully recovered as Medicine Hat seized the momentum and skated to an 8-2 victory Tuesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series.
“Yeah that was real tough to start for sure,” Pats captain Ephram McNutt said afterward.
“You're so high after a goal an early goal especially against them and for it to be taken away and then we end up with a penalty out of it all, definitely a slap in the face there.”
Head coach Brad Herauf acknowledged the importance of the moment, even while stressing the final score did not reflect how competitive stretches of the game actually were.
“Obviously for our group and what we're trying to establish against Medicine Hat, the scoreboard isn't indicative of the game,” Herauf said.
“I really thought our first period tonight was better than our first two periods there.”
Medicine Hat wasted little time making the Pats pay.
After Regina killed off the early penalty, the Tigers broke through at 7:47 of the first period when Yaroslav Bryzgalov walked in off the left wing and snapped a shot five-hole past Marek Schlenker to make it 1-0.
THE BRYZZLER SETS OFF GAME 3! 🚨🐅 pic.twitter.com/V7E47s6cN7
— Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) April 1, 2026
The Tigers continued to capitalize on mistakes and transition opportunities.
Kade Stengrim doubled the lead later in the period, slipping a puck under Schlenker after driving wide down the left side, before Bryce Pickford struck with just 34.7 seconds remaining in the opening frame, scoring off a deflection to send Medicine Hat into the intermission up 3-0.
PICKING HIS CORNER 🎯@tigershockey captain, Bryce Pickford (@CanadiensMTL) goes top corner with a wicked shot for his second of the #WHLPlayoffs! pic.twitter.com/tboof0b0Ls
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) April 1, 2026
Despite trailing, the Pats showed life early in the second.
Starting the period on the power play, Ruslan Karimov buried his own rebound just 43 seconds in for Regina’s first power-play goal of the series, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and briefly energizing the crowd.
📺 Goals in back-to-back games for Ruslan Karimov! pic.twitter.com/WHqRQbnOSM
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 1, 2026
The Pats continued to generate momentum off the rush and through their transition game, but Tigers star Andrew Basha quickly restored control.
Basha scored at 9:53 of the second period, snapping a shot high over Schlenker after a faceoff win, then added a power-play marker at 12:25 to push the lead to 5-1.
That second goal ended Schlenker’s night after he stopped 14 of 19 shots in 32:25 of action. Taylor Tabashniuk came on in relief and finished with 17 saves.
Regina answered again when Liam Pue wired a shot high over Jordan Switzer’s glove with 7:05 remaining in the middle frame, making it 5-2.
👀 PUE SCORES HIS FIRST WHL PLAYOFFS GOAL! pic.twitter.com/EExFiC4Pka
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 1, 2026
But every time the Pats pushed, Medicine Hat had a response.
Carter Cunningham restored the four-goal cushion with just 30.2 seconds left in the second, ripping a shot past Tabashniuk after a Regina turnover to make it 6-2.
That late goal proved especially deflating. In the third, the Tigers put the game away for good. Noah Davidson extended the lead to 7-2 with just over eight minutes to play before Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll pounced on a giveaway only 15 seconds later to complete the scoring.
Switzer turned aside 25 of 27 shots for Medicine Hat, while the Tigers finished 1-for-4 on the power play. Regina went 1-for-4.
For McNutt, the challenge now is making sure the emotional swing from the opening sequence does not linger, especially for a young lineup.
“I think it's just clearing their mind,” he said. “It sucks for all of us, but it's not going to change.”
Herauf delivered a similar message to his group after the loss, emphasizing the series is far from over despite the lopsided result.
“Rebound. This is a seven-game series,” he said. “It’s 0-0 starting tomorrow at 7 o’clock.”
Game 4 goes Wednesday night at the Brandt Centre, where the Pats will try to even the series once again.
You can hear the game on 620 CKRM starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m.
