Wheats 1 @ Pats 5 - Feb. 11/07

[nivek_wahs]

With an impressive win over the Wheats the Pats again move within 8 points of the East Division leading Wheat Kings.

Notes
Starters: Rowat (REG); Plante (BRN)
Powerplays: REG 1/4; BRN 0/4
Scratches: REG Fraipont, Elder, Snellman, Jagow; BRN Yeo, Green, Hallick, Lockerby
Shots: REG 14-17-10=41 BRN 8-10-19-37

Scoring
1st period
1. Regina, M. Reich (10) (K. Saulietis, B. Leffler) 2:46

2nd period
2. Regina, L. Lind (6) (K. Hill, B. Leffler) 6:53
3. Regina, K. Saulietis (12) (L. Pyett, M. MacAngus) 7:32
4. Regina, J. Scott (3) (T. Ofukany, L. Rowat) 19:40

3rd period
5. Brandon, R. Klinkhammer (27) (J. Topilko, T. Dittmer) 9:26
6. Regina, B. Leffler (10) (L. Pyett, N. Ross) 13:00 PP

Fisticuffs
None to report.

Officiating
Mercer and Skilliter were the stripes tonight and called a decent game... I guess. There were very few calls 5 minors to each team. They allowed the 2 teams to play... which I like. vote4arealclown (new member of whlfans... this is a ploy to get him to post... haha) really was giving it to Mercer tonight TA-DA :laugh: !!

3 Stars
Announced in the building...
1. Linden Rowat
2. Logan Pyett
3. Mike Reich

My picks...
1. Brett Leffler
2. Linden Rowat
3. Levi Lind

Thoughts
This was one of those 60-minute efforts put in by the Pats tonight. The Pats outworked the Wheats in the early stages and were rewarded early with Reich connecting on his 10th of the season. If it wasn't for some really key saves by Plante in net the Pats easily could have been up by 3 after the first.

The Pats checkers were pretty much the key for the Pats and the team was rewarded with 2 goals within 1:39 by Lind (6th) and Saulietis (10th). That seemed to take the wind out of the proverbial wind out of the Wheats sail. Justin Scott pretty much nailed the coffin shut with his 3rd goal of the season on a breakaway that beat Plante 5-hole with a beauty.

The Wheats came out with a better effort in the 3rd and came with guns-a-blazing but most of their effort came in vain. Klinkhammer was able to dent Rowat's armor with a screen shot 9:26 into the 3rd. All the Wheats effort was for not, Leffler tips in a Pyett point shot with 7 minutes left and the Wheats were toast.

I do have one worry tho... It appeared as tho Festerling was injured sometime during the first period and I saw him on the bench until there was about 5 minutes left in the 2nd at which time he headed off to the dressing room. Hopefully nothing serious.

[nivek_wahs]

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/sports/story.html?id=df8fec0c-bb2b-4722-a2b0-be79c0b6c34b&k=81627


Pats swath Wheaties

Greg Harder, The Leader-Post
Published: Monday, February 12, 2007

The Regina Pats already have the number of the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Now they want more.

In a showdown between the top two teams in the East Division, Regina continued its dominance of first-place Brandon on Sunday night with a convincing 5-1 decision before 4,111 fans at the Brandt Centre.

Regina has won five of the six meetings with the Wheat Kings this season and now sits just eight points behind the East Division front-runners. The Pats also have one game in hand.

"We want that pennant and I believe we have the team to do it," offered centre Justin Scott, who scored Regina's fourth goal -- a breakaway marker that broke the backs of the Wheat Kings. "All 20 of us knew we had to come out here and respond (to the challenge). This (result) will damage their confidence too. They're gonna be on the bus back to Brandon with their tail between their legs hoping we implode or something because we're coming for them."

Regina's No. 3 line of Mike Reich, Brett Leffler and Kaspars Saulietis came out flying on Sunday night -- and the trio was rewarded with the game's first goal. Leffler drove to the net and took a shot that was kicked out by Tyler Plante, but Reich swooped in and buried the rebound to snap a personal 16-game goal-less drought.

"Our line is definitely an energy line so we have to be ready to go to start the game," said Reich, who potted his 10th of the campaign. "We had to get some traffic on Plante. He's a very good goalie so we needed to go to the net right away and get a lot of pucks on net. It paid off."

Plante did his part to keep the game close, sticking out his right pad to rob Jordan Eberle midway through the first period. Plante did the same to Logan Pyett early in the second frame -- this time with his left pad -- after a perfect 2-on-1 feed by Saulietis.

Regina finally got some breathing room at 6:53 of the second period when Levi Lind scored to make it 2-0, followed by a goal from Saulietis just 39 seconds later.

Scott made it 4-0 in the dying seconds of the frame when he took a breakaway feed from Troy Ofukany and put a nice backhand move on Plante.

Robert Klinkhammer broke Linden Rowat's shutout bid with 9:26 remaining. Leffler made it 5-1 on the power play with a deflection of Logan Pyett's point shot. Leffler also had two assists.

The Pats outshot Brandon 41-37, with 19 of the Wheat Kings' shots coming in the third period and the game out of reach.

Regina is slated to meet Brandon three more times before the end of the regular season -- one at home and two away. If the Pats continue to gain ground, first place could be decided during a home-and-home matchup on the final weekend of the campaign.

"They're playing better but we're just worried about our game right now," said Brandon captain Mark Derlago. "We have to get some wins in here and stay on top of the division. We know they're behind us but we're not worried about them right now. We've had close games against them. A couple went into a shootout and that's a toss-up. We feel we can play them strong and we know we can beat them."

Still, the Pats are playing their best hockey of the season and feel they're well positioned for a run at first place. If they can put some doubt in the Wheat Kings' minds at the same time, so be it.

"Different teams match up very well against (others)," said Pats head coach Curtis Hunt. "It's just about personnel and personalities and how they line up. Maybe this is our year against Brandon. There's still lots of games to go, though."

EXTRAS: Pats leading scorer Garrett Festerling started the game but was sent home early due to the flu ... Pats GM Brent Parker hosted the Barenaked Ladies in his private luxury box during Sunday's game. The Canadian rockers are slated to play tonight at the Brandt Centre ... The Pats (27-24-1-4) are on the road for their next three games, beginning Wednesday night against the Moose Jaw Warriors.

© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007

[nivek_wahs]

I do have one worry tho... It appeared as tho Festerling was injured sometime during the first period and I saw him on the bench until there was about 5 minutes left in the 2nd at which time he headed off to the dressing room. Hopefully nothing serious.The article answered my question/worry
Pats leading scorer Garrett Festerling started the game but was sent home early due to the flu ...

[nivek_wahs]

http://reginapats.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=807


Game Recap – Regina Pats vs. Brandon Wheat Kings (Feb 11/07)
The Pats continued their flat-out dominance of the Wheat Kings this season, as goalie Linden Rowat stopped 36 of 37 shots, as they downed the division leaders by a final score of 5-1. Power forward Brett Leffler played one of his best games of the season, picking up a goal and two assists in the win.

The Pats did not waste any time jumping on the Wheat Kings, as Mike Reich collected his 10th goal of the season only 2:46 into the opening frame. The game would remain 1-0 until the 2nd period, when the Pats scored three times on Wheaties’ goalie Tyler Plante. Levi Lind potted his 6th of the season, which was followed up less than a minute later by Kaspars Saulietis collecting his 12th of the season, to stretch the lead to 3-0. Veteran forward Justin Scott scored with only 0:20 remaining in the period, to give the Pats a comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the final frame. Robert Klinkhammer would ruin the shutout bid for Rowat midway through the 3rd period, as he squeaked one through his legs to put the Wheat Kings on the board. However, Leffler would score on the powerplay, as he tipped home a Logan Pyett point shot, to give the Pats the 5-1 victory.

Both teams combined for only 10 minor penalties on the evening; the Pats went 1 for 4 on the powerplay, while the Wheat Kings were goalless on 4 attempts. The Pats improve to an overall record of 27-24-1-4 on the season with the victory. The Wheaties drop to 29-19-2-7 on the campaign, which puts them in 1st place in the East Division, but only 8 points up on the surging Pats.

[vote4arealclown]

Officiating
Mercer and Skilliter were the stripes tonight and called a decent game... I guess. There were very few calls 5 minors to each team. They allowed the 2 teams to play... which I like. vote4arealclown (new member of whlfans... this is a ploy to get him to post... haha) really was giving it to Mercer tonight TA-DA :laugh: !!



I can't count the times on my hands this year that the Pats have got the shaft from Mercer. Hes TERRIEBLE. I've watched him make bad call after bad call. I'm glad I rode his ass (Can I say ass here?) last night cause this is the first time in a long time that he didn't screw us.

:wave: Hi Nivek! Nice work in getting me out of troll mode and into posting mode!