The Regina Pats built multiple leads but couldn’t hold off a third-period surge from the Brandon Wheat Kings, falling 7–4 on Friday night at the Brandt Centre.
Regina jumped out front early, as Julien Maze opened the scoring on the power play at 6:22 of the first, burying a rebound for his 12th of the season. Brandon answered later in the frame when Chase Surkan struck on the man-advantage, sending the game into the intermission tied 1–1.
The Pats regained control early in the second period with goals 1:41 apart. Jace Egland wired a bar-down shot to make it 2–1, and Liam Pue followed with a sharp finish from the right circle for a 3–1 lead. Pue finished the night with 1G–1A, giving him goals in two of his last three games and four points in his last four. Brandon clawed back quickly, however, as Surkan netted his second of the night off his own rebound to cut Regina’s advantage to 3–2 heading into the third.
The final frame swung heavily in Brandon’s favour. Caleb Hadland tied the game at 12:54 off a turnover, sparking a run of four straight Wheat Kings goals. Less than a minute later, Joby Baumuller gave Brandon its first lead when a sharp-angle shot caromed awkwardly off the end boards and off Marek Schlenker to make it 4–3. Surkan then completed his hat trick on the power play at 15:58, and Baumuller added his second of the night just 37 seconds later to push the Wheat Kings ahead 6–3.
Regina responded with a power-play marker from Ruslan Karimov at 17:42, but Hadland sealed the game with an empty-netter at 18:39, securing a 7–4 Brandon win.
Despite the loss, the Pats outshot the Wheat Kings 40–27, while going 3-for-4 on the power play. Brandon finished 2-for-4 with the man advantage. Pats goaltender Marek Schlenker stopped 20 of 26 shots, while Brandon’s Jayden Kraus turned aside 36 of 40.
FINAL: Brandon Wheat Kings 7, Regina Pats 4
THE GOALS
First Period
Pats 1-0 — #72 Julien Maze (12), assisted by #55 Ephram McNutt & #6 Reese Hamilton at 6:22 (PP) // Hamilton sent a pass to McNutt at the Wheat Kings' left circle, where he cut across in front of Kraus and tried to jam it home. The attempt was thwarted, and the rebound caromed out to the slot where Maze grabbed the loose puck and fired home his 12th of the season past the sprawling netminder.
Wheat Kings 1-1 — #11 Chase Surkan (13), assisted by #19 Carter Klippenstein & #26 Luke Mistelbacher (PP) // Klippenstein sent a cross ice pass to Surkan, who fired home the powerplay marker to tie the game up at 1-1.
Second Period
Pats 2-1 — #24 Jace Egland (3), assisted by #49 Dayce Derkatch & #38 Dayton Deschamps at 2:11 // The puck bounced at the Wheat Kings blueline, and Derkatch redirected it to Egland, who raced in on the left side and fired the puck bar down glove side past Kraus to restore the Pats lead at 2-1.
Pats 3-1 — #13 Liam Pue (3), assisted by #32 Mathis Paull & #6 Reese Hamilton at 3:52 // A Wheat Kings player turned the puck over just inside the Brandon line to Paull who sent a cross ice pass to Pue and from the right circle the 15-year-old forward fired it far side past Kraus' blocker to give the Pats a two goal lead at 3-1.
Wheat Kings 3-2 — #11 Chase Surkan (14), assisted by #26 Luke Mistelbacher & #14 Grayson Burzynski at 5:49 // Mistelbacher passed to Surkan, who had some room, got in tight and sent a backhand toward Schlenker which was stopped, but Surkan grabbed his own rebound and tucked it past the prone netminder to make it 3-2.
Third Period
Wheat Kings 3-3 — #10 Caleb Hadland (10), unassisted at 12:54 // The Pats turned the puck over just outside their blueline, and Hadland raced in and fired it past Schlenker to knot the game up at 3-3.
Wheat Kings 4-3 — #17 Joby Baumuller(15), assisted by #62 Nicholas Johnson & #14 Grayson Burzynski at 13:52 // Baumuller fired the puck past the Pats net and the puck took a weird bounce off the back boards off of Schlenker and into the net giving the Wheat Kings their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Wheat Kings 5-3 — #11 Chase Surkan (15), assisted by #13 Jordan Gavin & #26 Luke Mistelbacher at 15:58 (PP) // After a couple of cross ice passes, Surkan buried his third of the game to extend the Wheat Kings lead to 5-3.
Wheat Kings 6-3 — #17 Joby Baumuller (16), assisted by #62 Nicholas Johnson at 16:35 // Johnson passed the puck to the front of the Pats net, and Baumuller got a piece of it to chip it past Schlenker to make it 6-3.
Pats 6-4 — #25 Ruslan Karimov (5), assisted by #44 Matt Paranych & #13 Liam Pue at 17:42 (PP) // Paranych's point shot was blocked in front of the Wheat Kings netminder, and Karimov picked up the loose puck and converted to make it 6-4.
Wheat Kings 7-4 — #10 Caleb Hadland (11), assisted by #13 Dayce Derkatch at 18:39 (EN) // Gavin passed to Hadland inside the Pats blueline, and he converted with the empty net goal to seal the game up at 7-4.
Shots on Goal
- Pats: 22 – 14 – 4 — 40
- Wheat Kings: 6 – 8 – 13 — 27
Power Plays
- Pats: 3/4
- Wheat Kings: 2/4
Goaltending
- Pats: Marek Schlenker — 20 saves on 26 shots
- Wheat Kings: Jayden Kraus — 36 saves on 40 shots
Three Stars
- First Star: Chase Surkan (3G)
- Second Star: Luke Mistelbacher (4A)
- Third Star: Connor Bear
COMING UP
The Regina Pats play the second of four games before the Christmas Break as the Club travels to Saskatoon and takes on the Blades for the first time this season on Sunday, Dec. 7. The Pats will then host the Kelowna Rockets on December 13 for their Teddy Bear Toss Night.
