The Regina Pats kept battling on Tuesday night in Swift Current but in the end it was not enough as the Broncos picked up a 5-3 win.

The Pats managed to tie the game at three different points before the Broncos pulled away with the win.

With the victory, the Broncos extended their lead for the final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference over the Pats by four points.  The Pats do hold a four game advantage over Swift Current.

Assistant Coach Brad Herauf said some of the goals that went against the Pats were backbreakers. “It was kind of the same thing over again in Moose Jaw with our goalies, just three bad goals that should never go in this league, but our team never got down at that point and we kept on battling.”

Matthew Kieper was pulled after allowing a pair of goals on four shots, Drew Sim came in relief and made 12 saves on 14 shots.

Connor Bedard scored a pair of goals in the loss, including his 43rd goal of the season which happened on a penalty shot. Bedard has now extended his point streak to 21 games.

Tanner Howe scored his 25th goal of the season.

Even with the loss, Herauf noted there were positives in the Pats effort. “We like our game tonight, we battled hard, we didn’t score on a couple of opportunities, but we never gave up when we had some punches in the gut there with the goals against.”

The Pats will try and get back into the win column on Friday when they travel to Saskatoon to meet the Blades. You can catch the game on 620 CKRM beginning with the pregame show at 6:35.

The next home game for the Pats will be Saturday when they welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings to the Brandt Centre.