For nearly 40 minutes Saturday night, it looked like the Regina Pats were about to force this first-round series back home. Instead, their season ended cruelly.
After building a 3-0 lead and later extending it to 4-1, the Pats saw the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers storm back before Cam Parr scored just 51 seconds into overtime, giving the Tigers a 5-4 victory in Game 5 at Co-op Place and ending Regina’s season.
It was a bitter finish for a Regina club that pushed one of the WHL’s elite teams in every game of the series.
The Pats came out exactly the way head coach Brad Herauf would have wanted in an elimination game. Just 1:20 into the opening period, Dayton Deschamps opened the scoring off assists from Ellis Mieyette and Jace Egland, stunning the 5,508 fans in Medicine Hat and giving Regina an early jolt.
Deschamps’ FIRST career #WHLPlayoffs goal puts us ahead early ‼️ pic.twitter.com/X4LdbwPgRv
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 5, 2026
The Pats carried that momentum into the second period.
After Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll was assessed a checking-to-the-head penalty early in the frame, Zachary Lansard capitalized on the power play at 1:54, with Keets Fawcett drawing the lone assist to make it 2-0.
Lansard buries his third goal of the series to double our lead 😎 pic.twitter.com/37yLbWNyAY
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 5, 2026
Only 23 seconds later, Ruslan Karimov struck again for Regina at even strength, pushing the lead to 3-0 and silencing the Tigers crowd.
KARIMOV SCORES HIS TEAM-LEADING FOURTH GOAL OF THE SERIES 🤯 pic.twitter.com/cZnMtfawiO
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 5, 2026
For a young Pats team facing the defending champions on the road, it was the kind of start that reflected how much the club had grown over the second half of the season.
Medicine Hat finally answered on the power play at 6:07 when Andrew Basha beat Marek Schlenker to make it 3-1.
But once again, Regina responded. At 12:07 of the second, Mieyette restored the three-goal cushion, finishing a play set up by Karimov and Reese Hamilton for a 4-1 lead.
ELLIS MIEYETTE JOINS IN ON THE SCORING ACTION 🚨#ReginaPatsHockey | #REGvsMH | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/8ueughloQc
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 5, 2026
At that point, the Pats appeared firmly in control. Then the momentum shifted. Noah Davidson scored at 18:18 to cut the lead to 4-2, before Tigers captain Bryce Pickford scored just 1:37 later at 19:55, suddenly making it a one-goal game heading into the third.
The late second-period surge changed everything. Medicine Hat kept pressing in the third and finally found the equalizer on a power play at 15:36, when Liam Ruck scored off assists from Markus Ruck and Basha.
From there, overtime felt inevitable. And it ended quickly.
Just 51 seconds into the extra frame, Parr found space through traffic and beat Schlenker to complete the comeback and send the Tigers into Round 2.
GAME WINNER. SERIES WINNER. CAM PARR!!!! 🚀🚨
THE TIGERS ARE OFF TO ROUND TWO!! 🐅@tigershockey | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture
📺| @victoryplustv
🔗| https://t.co/ejuFny1mnK pic.twitter.com/1JHD5wNqkh— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) April 5, 2026
Schlenker was excellent despite the loss, turning aside 32 of 37 shots.
Jordan Switzer made 17 saves for Medicine Hat.
The Pats finished 1-for-3 on the power play, while Medicine Hat went 2-for-7.
The difference ultimately came down to special teams and the Tigers’ relentless push after falling behind early.
Still, the loss did little to erase what Herauf called a significant step forward for the organization.
“The effort the boys put in, and the injuries these kids are playing with and playing through, especially some of our older guys, they’re actually on fumes and one leg or one arm,” Herauf said after the game.
“I think the effort that we put out, we can definitely be proud of that. We’ve got lots of good learning experiences, good and bad. Tonight just unfortunately wasn’t our time.”
For Regina, the bigger picture may be just as important as the result. After two difficult rebuilding seasons, the Pats played meaningful hockey deep into the year and showed they could compete with one of the league’s top teams.
“That’s what our goal was at the start of the year,” Herauf said. ”I think it’s a step our organization needed to take. I really like the pieces we got back. Our cupboards are full with our draft capital going into the offseason here. We’ve got a really good core foundation of players for the next few years here.”
“I think the organization and the fans should be really excited about what’s coming down the pipe.”
The game also marked the final WHL appearances for overagers Ephram McNutt and Caden Brown, two veterans who helped stabilize the Pats through the rebuild and into this season’s playoff push.
Herauf made it clear their impact goes well beyond Saturday’s result.
“They can be proud. In the next two years, when our team’s having these deep playoff runs, it’s going to be because of those guys.”
Even in defeat, there was plenty of encouragement. Karimov continued his strong playoff showing, while players like Lansard, Mieyette, Connor Bear, Zach Moore and Dayce Derkatch all took meaningful steps in the postseason.
For a team that came within moments of forcing a Game 6 back to Regina, the heartbreak of Saturday may also serve as fuel. The season is over, but for the Pats, it also may have been the clearest sign yet that better days are ahead.
Pats head coach Brad Herauf talks with the media following Game 5.#ReginaPatsHockey | #REGvsMH | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/wjKksVvK97
— Regina Pats (@WHLPats) April 5, 2026
