The Regina Pats delivered in a must win game last night as they picked up a 3-2 win against the Saskatoon Blades.

The Pats scored a goal in each period to take a 3-0 lead before holding off a late charge from the Blades who scored a pair of goals in the final frame.

Assistant Coach Ken Schneider thought his team had a strong effort in the first 50 minutes of the game. “We played a good sound game, they weren’t able to get guys behind us, we played a much more positional game tonight, and we were gritty.”

Borya Valis, Logan Linklater and Ryker Evans scored for the Pats.

For Linklater, the goal was his first with the Pats, and he thought the team’s hard work really paid off against the Blades. “Thought we played really hard right from the get-go, and we all know how big these games are so to get that one is really special and I think all of us are really proud of the group the way we competed.”

Drew Sim made 21 saves to earn the win.

With the victory, the Pats remain six points back of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Swift Current’s victory over Lethbridge on Wednesday leapfrogged the Broncos into 7th spot with the Hurricanes now currently occupying the final playoff spot in the East.

The Pats next chance to make up some ground in the playoff race is Friday night when they host the Winnipeg Ice at the Brandt Centre.

You can catch the game on 620 CKRM beginning with the pregame show at 6:35. Opening faceoff is 7:00.