The compete level was there, but unfortunately for the Regina Pats the two points did not follow as Brandon edged Regina 5-4.
The Pats were forced to play short handed as they only had five defenceman in the lineup with injuries to Ryker Evans and Stanislav Svozil.
Despite the lack of bodies, Assistant Coach Ken Schneider was happy with the team’s effort in Brandon. “A much better effort than game back in Prince Albert, kudos to our young guys and we played with a 5 D the whole night, guys played hard.”
The highlight for Pats on Tuesday night was Captain Logan Nijhoff recording his first career hat trick of his WHL career, along with improving his season total to 20. Schneider says Nijhoff’s leadership skills were on display against the Wheat Kings. “He wears the captain’s C for a reason, and he really led by example, he was all over the ice tonight, working his tail off and it showed in his game.”
Jakob Brook also scored for the Pats. Layton Feist and Neithan Salame each had multi-assist games, with two each, while Connor Bedard had one assist and nine shots on goal, giving him 87 points on the season.
The Pats remain in 11th spot in the Eastern Conference and are still six points back of the Swift Current Broncos. The Pats have three games in hand on them, but just five games remaining on the schedule.
The next action for the Pats will be a must win game, as they head to Swift Current to meet the Broncos. You can catch the game on 620 CKRM beginning with the pregame show at 6:35. Opening faceoff is 7:00.
