‘Something you never want to end:’ Pats, Hitmen enjoy overtime battle at Mosaic Stadium

While it wasn’t the result Regina Pats captain Austin Pratt and the rest of his teammates were looking for, Pratt didn’t want the Prairie Classic moment to be finished quite yet.

“I wish we could still be playing. It’s something you never want to end,” Pratt said following Regina’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium.

“It was tough with the outcome but I’m happy with how our team handled everything. It’s a tough place to play right now because there’s so much going on, it’s so fun.”

The Pats and Hitmen wrapped up a week of hockey festivities in the Queen City, with a paid attendance of 15,401 announced for the outdoor battle between the two WHL teams. The two clubs battled the elements and each other in 2011, when an outdoor game was held in Calgary.

For the second straight day, fans braved the wind and snow to take in a hockey game at Mosaic Stadium. The Winnipeg Jets edged the Calgary Flames 2-1 in overtime Saturday to win the 2019 NHL Tim Hortons Heritage Classic.

The temperature at the start of Sunday’s game was -6 C and it stayed fairly steady throughout the game. It gave Pats goaltender Max Paddock some flashbacks to his time playing minor hockey with his water bottle freezing due to the sub-zero temperatures, something that happened to him playing minor hockey.

Despite the low mercury levels, Paddock said weather wasn’t an issue for him.

“The wind was a bit of a factor but other than that the snow didn’t bother me and the sun didn’t bother me either,” Paddock said.

Despite the cool temperature at puck drop, the Pats got off to a hot start. Pratt scored the game’s first goal just 29 seconds in after accepting a feed from left-winger Ty Kolle.

“That was really cool,” Pratt said when asked about scoring early in the outdoor conditions. “Taking it in during warmups it was definitely something special so it was nice to get that first one out of the way and try to roll from there and get a good start.

“You watch it every year on TV, many games like this just hoping you’d ever get the chance to be in one of these. Now that the time has come that we got to be in it, I don’t think it will hit me until a couple days after how cool this is.”

However, the Hitmen would find the equalizer later in the period with centre Mark Kastelic getting sprung on a shorthanded breakaway by defenceman Egor Zamula. Kastelic beat Paddock at the 7:11 mark of the opening frame.

The physical play on the ice increased along with the snow on the surface in the second period. Pats centre Cole Dubinsky laid a big hit on Hitmen centre Riley Stotts but was assessed a charging call. Calgary defenceman Layne Toder retaliated to the hit and was given an unsportsmanlike penalty to make it four-on-four hockey.

With the faceoff in the Hitmen zone, Regina capitalized quickly with Pratt finding left-winger Robbie Holmes in front of the net. Holmes beat Hitmen goaltender Jack McNaughton just 2:31 into the second period.

That goal would be the start of a high-scoring frame for the fans to enjoy.

Kastelic recorded his second goal of the game just over four minutes after the Pats regained the lead, deflecting in a shot from defenceman Jett Woo.

Calgary centre Jonas Peterek was sprung on a breakaway by left-winger James Malm and beat Paddock with 6:42 left in the period.

Pats left-winger Logan Nijhoff tied the game at 3-3 after he knocked in a bouncing puck from a shot by defenceman Nikita Sedov with 3:06 left.

But the Pats weren’t able to head into the final frame with a tie as Hitmen forward Josh Prokop fired a shot that hit off the skate of a Pats player and found its way into the net with 47 seconds remaining.

Sedov found the tying goal, the first of his WHL career, early in the third period, scoring just 1:55 into the frame.

But with no one able to find the deciding goal in regulation, the game was set to end like many other outdoor games young players participated in — next goal wins.

While the player who scored the goal has a connection to Regina, it unfortunately wasn’t in a Pats jersey for the home team.

Regina-born Hitmen centre Carson Focht punched home the game-winner 59 seconds into the extra frame.

Despite the loss, Paddock said it was a surreal moment.

“It was just like being a kid again. You come to the rink, you’re just super excited and you don’t care what the weather’s going to be like. You’re just there to play hockey and enjoy the moment,” Paddock said. “(It was) just an awesome experience.”

The Pats (2-10-1-0) will be back in action Friday night when they visit the Prince Albert Raiders.