The Regina Pats came up short 5-4 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers on Tuesday night.
Zach Moore opened the scoring for the Pats eight seconds into the first period on a shot that deflected off of a defenceman’s shoulder and in.
Oasiz Weisblatt then tied it for the Tigers at the 4:42 mark of the first period on a shot that beat Ewan Huet glove side.
Shortly after, Jaxsin Vaughan slapped home a one-time feed from Zackary Shantz on a three-on-one chance with just over seven minutes into the first period, restoring the Pats’ one-goal lead.
Then, on the powerplay, Gavin McKenna broke free on a partial break to slip one past Huet, knotting the game at 2-2.
With 7:07 to go in the first, Dru Krebs potted a goal over the blocker-side shoulder of Huet, and despite a Tigers forward laying on top of the Pats goaltender, the goal was still allowed, giving the Tigers their first lead of the game.
The Pats survived much of the second period before tying the game with 1:05 left in the middle frame. Zane Rowan slid a rebound past Medicine Hat goaltender Ethan McCallum to tie the game 3-3.
Shane Smith broke the tie about six minutes into the third period on the powerplay. That goal was quickly matched by a powerplay marker from Braxton Whitehead from the point, making it a 4-4 game.
However, another powerplay goal from Gavin McKenna gave the Tigers the lead.
The Pats had a late powerplay but were unable to capitalize. Huet made 16 saves on 21 shots in the losing effort, while McCallum made 24 saves for the Tigers.
The Pats are back on the ice Friday when they host Swift Current. Puck drop is at 7:00. Tune into 620 CKRM for the play-by-play, starting with the pre-game show at 6:30.
