MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors had every chance to come away with a win against the Regina Pats on Sunday afternoon in Regina, but an inability to score on the power play proved to be their undoing.
The Warriors spent the final 1:50 of regulation and a full two minutes of overtime on the man advantage but couldn’t find a way to beat Pats goaltender Ewan Huet, with the end result seeing Tye Spencer scoring at 4:16 of overtime to give Regina a 4-3 victory.
Regina improved to 2-2-0-0 and moved into fifth place in the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference, while Moose Jaw fell to 1-2-0-1 and are tied for sixth with Prince Albert.
Regina received a power play 28 seconds into the game, and they’d make it count just as the man advantage expired. Anthony Wilson jumped on a huge rebound off a Zackary Shantz point shot, and he’d put a shot home glove side on Jackson Unger for the lead 2:27 into the proceedings.
The Pats then extended their edge to 2-0 8:22 into the game, with Shantz redirecting a shot from the point by Kolten Bridgeman and finding the back of the net.
A heads up play along the boards led to the Warriors getting one back late in the period. Lynden Lakovic jumped on a loose puck and sent a quick pass cross-ice to Aiden Ziprick, who had plenty of time to put a shot top shelf on Huet with 4:38 to play.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second period, but it wasn’t for a lack of chances.
Braxton Whitehead had the best opportunity for the Pats early in the period when a loose puck found him all alone in front of the net, but Unger would make the save to keep it a one-goal game.
The Warriors’ Ethan Hughes then nearly tied the game with five minutes to play, taking a feed on the rush from Owen Berge and trying to go top-shelf blocker side, only for Huet to get a piece of the puck.
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to tie the game in the third. Owen Berge was in the right place at the right time to jam home a rebound at the side of the net off a Voytech Port point shot, with the goal coming 1:36 into the final frame.
Regina regained the lead with 8:02 to play in the game, with the goal coming off a flurry of scoring chances for Moose Jaw at the other end of the ice. Brayden Smith got a shot off in close during a flurry and had the puck go off a Warriors defender in front for the first goal of his WHL career.
The Warriors had a great chance to tie the game when Regina’s Corban Almen was hit with a high-sticking double minor with 3:28 to play, and they’d get the job done.
Pavel McKenzie got his stick on a blocked shot and swept it into the net from the high slot, with the goal coming with 1:50 to play -- and early enough that Moose Jaw remained on the man advantage.
The Warriors were unable to score on that power play and things ended up in overtime.
There, Moose Jaw had another power play and another chance to put the game away, but Regina would kill off the Sam Oremba interference minor.
No sooner did three-on-three play resume than did the Pats end it, as Spencer went in one-on-one on Lynden Lakovic and beat his man to the outside before cutting to the front of the net and slipping a shot home five hole.
Huet finished the game with 30 saves, including a host of big stops in the final couple of minutes and overtime. Unger stopped 24 for Moose Jaw.
John Babcock finished with three assists for the Pats, Shantz a goal and three points.
The Warriors are back on the road Friday when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes, while Regina hosts Edmonton on Saturday.
