Pats clinch the east division with a 5-0 win over Moose Jaw

What a difference a week makes.

Last Friday the Pats were in the midst of a four-game losing skid, but their performance in the Brandt Centre this Friday would make that easy to forget.

It seems a team that felt like it was losing confidence last week has found it again, just two weeks out from the playoffs.

“We got our game back and things are going good so it’s just lots of fun right now,” said defenceman Connor Hobbs, before adding they “just got to keep the train rolling.”

And the train is certainly off to a good start.

Captain Adam Brooks started the scoring off for Regina, with a powerplay goal 11 minutes into the first period collecting a rebound from a Hobbs slapshot.

The Pats would go on to out shoot the Warriors 15-7 in the period.

But it was the second frame when Regina took it to another level starting with a chip in from Josh Mahura off an Austin Wagner pass just over two minutes in.

Barely a minute later, Nick Henry found the back of the net burying it behind Moose Jaw goaltender Zach Sawchenko.

Next, it would be Sam Steel who took advantage of the powerplay and scored to put the Pats up 4-0 heading into the second intermission. But Steel was not done for the night, putting an incredible backhand past Sawchenko to seal the 5-0 win.

Hobbs had heaps of praise for his teammates after the game, while also pointing out how important it was to have a big game against their division rivals.

“It’s huge, it’s a 60-minute win tonight,” he said. “Browny (goaltender Tyler Brown) played amazing tonight making some huge saves and getting a shutout and we had big performances. Sammy (Sam Steel) really (had) two of the nicest goals I’ve seen him score all year.”

The win clinched the division for the Pats over the Warriors and the Swift Current Broncos, but ultimately, that’s not the goal the team’s shooting for.

“It’s not all about standings right now it’s about gaining momentum going into playoffs and I think we did a good job of that tonight,” Steel said.

GAME NOTES

• Stars:
  1. Sam Steel
  2. Tyler Brown
  3. Josh Mahura
• The Pats set a franchise record for points in a season at 102.
• Steel will play his 200th game as a Pat on Saturday night: “Time flies, it feels like yesterday I was being called up. It’ll be a nice little milestone and hopefully we can get a win,” he said.