The Regina Pats had their 2024 home opener spoiled on Saturday, falling 5-1 to the Brandon Wheat Kings inside the Brandt Centre.
Despite the result, the game was close through the first 40 minutes of play, as Regina tailed 2-0. The Wheat Kings opened the scoring with 58 seconds to go in the first before taking a 2-0 lead into the second intermission with a late power play goal. They would follow that up with a three goal third period.
Ewan Huet would get the loss, making 37 saves, including several spectacular saves throughout the game, with four of them breakaway stops. Tye Spencer netted his first of the season with a power play goal in the third. Cole Temple extended his point-streak to two games with an assist.
Nicolas Johnson led the way offensively for the Wheat Kings with his first career hattrick, helping Brandon improve to 2-0 on the season. Meanwhile, the Pats finished opening weekend with a 1-1 record.
FINAL SCORE: Wheat Kings 5, Pats 1
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0 Wheat Kings at 19:02 – Easton Odut (1), assisted by Jaxon Jacobson & Brady Turko // Off an offensive faceoff, Odut found time to Ewan Huet’s left and beat the Pats netminder to his blocker side to give the Wheat Kings a 1-0 lead with less than a minute left in the opening period.
Second Period
2-0 Wheat Kings at 18:28 – Nicholas Johnson (1), assisted by Marcus Nguyen & Dominik Petr (PP) // Johnson streaked in and snuck a shot past Huet’s glove to give the Wheat Kings a 2-0 lead late in the second.
Third Period
3-0 Wheat Kings at 2:20 – Nicholas Johnson (2), assisted by Giorgos Pantelas & Nolan Flamand // From the left circle, Johnson beat Huet high to the glove side to extend the Wheat Kings lead to 3-0.
4-0 Wheat Kings at 4:18 – Nicholas Johnson (3), assisted by Roger McQueen & Quinn Mantei (PP) // Huet got a piece of McQueen’s shot but the puck trickled behind him to Johnson who completed the hat-trick giving the visitors a 4-0 lead.
4-1 Pats at 7:59 – Tye Spencer (1), assisted by Cole Temple & Zach Moore (PP) // Spencer got the puck at the top of the circle on his off-wing side and wired a shot past Ethan Esket to get the Pats on the board making it 4-1.
5-1 Wheat Kings at 10:00 – Nolan Flamand (1), assisted by Matteo Michels & Dylan Ronald // Michels found a loose puck and got a shot away which Huet stopped but Flamand put the rebound into the open net to give Brandon a four-goal lead at 5-1.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 7-8-10–25 | Brandon – 13-14-15–42
PP: Regina – 1/3 | Brandon – 2/4
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Ewan Huet (37 saves / 42 shots)
Brandon: Ethan Eskit (24 saves / 25 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Nicholas Johnson (3G) – Wheat Kings
Second: Nolan Flamand (1G-1A) – Wheat Kings
Third: Tye Spencer (1G) – Pats
COMING UP
The Regina Pats are back in action on Friday, September 27 when they take on the Moose Jaw Warriors on the road at 7pm. The Pats next home game is Sunday, September 29 at 2pm against the Warriors. You can get your tickets, HERE.
