The Regina Pats find themselves tied 1-1 in their first round playoff series with the Swift Current Broncos. The Pats played five very good periods - and one stinker - this weekend. Unfortunately, that one bad period cost the Pats an opportunity to take a 2-0 series lead.
Regina came out flying, and hitting, in game one Friday night. 20-year old forward J.D. Watt put in a terrific performance, and was named the first star of the 2-1 Pats victory.
The next night, the Pats came out strong again and took a 3-2 lead into the third period. That's when the wheels fell off, as the Broncos scored three unanswered goals to take a 5-3 victory and even the series up. Games three and four are Tuesday and Wednesday in Swift Current.
The Broncos hope to have veteran defenceman Michael Wilson back in the lineup Tuesday. Wilson was hammered by the Pats' Brett Leffler on the first shift Friday night, and left the game with a concussion. The league ordered Leffler to sit out Saturday night, even though no penalty was assessed on the play.
On Saturday, Broncos blueliner Jesse Dudas saw his season come to an end when he was taken into the boards hard, and awkwardly, by Pats sniper Jordan Eberle. Dudas suffered a broken wrist, while Eberle was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct. Needless to say, it's been a physical series to this point. I can't see that changing when the scene shifts to the iPlex Tuesday.
2 comments:
Hi Pete - Saturday was horrible to say the least. Strueby and Delehay took needless and undisciplined penalties that may have changed the outcome of this series. Wouldn't one think Hunt has that stuff under control by now, 74 games into the season?
Rowat was pretty good in the final two weeks and he may have left his best in the regular season. He was weak on three even strength goals last night. Goaltending wins you series and last night we didn't get it. We don't have any time to baby him out of a funk.
In the span of about 5 mins we lost the lead, our composure, lost our top scorer and most likely the series. I am extremely agitated with their third period performance last night. What in hell went wrong on that bench?. Does Hunt even have control of it? Pyett and Bender were on the ice for 2 even strength goals. Did Kraus play because I didn't notice him? That first line worked a hell of a lot better with Doucet.
I know that if they come back down 3-1 on Friday, they can start booking tee times.
Old Fan
I thought Kraus had a strong game in game one. Not so much in game two.
The third period was pretty much a microcosm of what happens when the "bad" Pats show up. Hopefully it was just a cameo appearance. There's no question the effort wasn't good enough, and - worst of all - now the Broncos have a ton of confidence going back home. Tomorrow night's game is huge.
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