The Regina Pats didn’t leave much to chance when they took on the Medicine Hat Tigers at the Brandt Centre on Friday night.
Regina scored five unanswered goals through the first and second period and had a solid 34-save performance from Taylor Tabashniuk on their way to a 6-1 victory.
The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos also found the win column, with the Warriors taking a 4-3 shootout victory over the Prince Albert Raiders in Hockeytown North and the Broncos downing the Saskatoon Blades 5-3 on home ice.
Regina 6, Medicine Hat 1
Things were close in the early going between the two teams, as Cohen Klassen opened scoring for Regina 5:42 into the game before Luke Cozens replied for Medicine Hat 1:08 later.
It was all Pats from there, though, as Klassen added his second of the night at 7:42 of the first, Liam Pue scored on the power play at 10:06 and Mathis Paul found the back of the net at 11:51 to make it a 4-1 game after one.
Zach Lansard then extended Regina’s lead with 4:03 left in the second period, followed by Pue scoring his seventh of the season and second on the man advantage with 40 seconds left in the period.
Tabashniuk went to work from there, stopping 17 shots in the final frame to prevent any kind of a Tigers comeback.
Lansard finished with two points in the game, Maddox Schultz added a pair of assists.
Casey Carter got the start in goal for the Tigers and allowed four goals on seven shots in the first 10:06 before giving way to Cash Christie, who stopped 19 shots the rest of the way.
Regina improves to 4-3-0-1 and move into a tie for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, with the Tigers falling to 4-3-0-1 and taking their third-straight loss.
Swift Current 5, Saskatoon 3
A three-goal second-period outburst saw the Broncos take a 5-3 lead into the final frame, and Swift Current would weather a furious comeback attempt by the Blades to secure the win.
Ty Meunier got things started for the Broncos with the game’s opening goal at 9:45, but power play markers from David Lewandowski and Kazden Mathies in the final six minutes of the first would give Saskatoon a 2-1 edge.
Swift Current then went to work in the second, with Clake Schaefer scored a pair of goals — including a shorthanded marker with 3:07 left in the period — and Hyde Davidson adding his first of the season to give the Broncos their two goal lead.
Brayden Klimpke got one back for Saskatoon 5:15 into the third, but they’d get no closer, and Trae Wilke finished things off with an empty netter with 11 seconds left.
Lewandowski and Klimpke each had three points, Wilke and Muenier picked up a pair each.
Cal Conway turned aside 45 shots on the night for the Broncos and was especially sharp in the third when Saskatoon fired 23 shots on goal.
Taye Timmerman stopped 23 shots total for the Blades.
Swift Current is now 6-4-0-0 on the campaign and hold sole possession of third, Saskatoon drops to 4-3-1-0 and are tied for fifth.
Moose Jaw 4, Prince Albert 3 (SO)
The Warriors fell behind 3-1 early in the second, but goaltender Jordan Switzer held the fort from there, turning aside a total of 46 shots on the night — including two of three attempts in the shootout — to secure the victory.
Prince Albert’s Maddix McCagherty and Brandon Gorzynski sandwiched a goal from Moose Jaw’s Nolan Paquette to make it a 2-1 Raiders lead after the first period.
Owen Corkish then extended P.A.’s lead to two with a power play goal with 9:06 left in the second, but that would be the last good news for the Raiders on the night.
Casey Brown got Moose Jaw within one with 40 seconds left in the second, and Mathieu Lajoie scored the only goal of the third 1:40 in to tie things up.
That’s where things sat through the remainder of regulation and overtime, sending the contest to a shootout.
There, Landen McFadden and Rasmus Kamarainen found the back of the net to give the Warriors the win.
Brock Cripps and Riley Boychuk each had two assists for the Raiders.
Michal Orsulak stopped 18 shots in the losing effort.
Moose Jaw is now 4-3-0-0 and in eighth place, Prince Albert falls to 2-6-0-2 and are in 11th.
Up Next
Four Saskatchewan teams are in action Saturday, as Regina is at Swift Current (6 p.m., InnovationPlex) and Moose Jaw is in Saskatoon (7 p.m., SaskTel Centre).
