Warriors earn 5-4 OT win over Pats in battle between top picks in WHL bantam draft

Two young players just beginning their WHL journeys helped their teams get in position to win Tuesday, but the Moose Jaw Warriors beat the Regina Pats 5-4 after an extra frame.

Pats forward Connor Bedard continued his hot start to the season, with the first overall pick in the 2020 bantam draft recording two assists in the game at the Brandt Centre.

But it was Warriors forward Brayden Yager, who was taken just two picks after Bedard, who helped his team get the win. Yager assisted on Daemon Hunt’s game-winner in overtime for his third point of the game.

But there’s no rivalry brewing between the two young rookies – just some friendly competition.

“It was a class act by him. He congratulated me on my first goal,” Yager said. “It shows what kind of person he is. He’s a great kid, we’re buddies and I look forward to going against him the next few years.”

Yager said he and Bedard have been talking throughout the bubble.

“I congratulated him on his first goal and we’re kind of talking every day,” Yager said.

Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary said the two players will push themselves over the next few years.

“I think the competitiveness is there and I think that’s only natural that it’s going to feed off each other a bit. It’s a healthy thing and that’s what it’s all about. It’s about competing and whether that’s individually or as a team, it’s all about races and battles within a game,” O’Leary said. “It’s good for Moose Jaw and it’s good for Regina and I’m excited to watch it in the coming years.”

The Pats got out to their first lead of the year early in the game, with defenceman Tom Cadieux firing a wristshot from the point by past Warriors goaltender Boston Bilous just 2:48 into the game.

Around the seven-minute mark of the first, Pats forward Carson Denomie added his third and fourth tallies of the season, one of them coming on the power play, to extend that lead to three.

Bedard assisted on both of Denomie’s goals.

But the Warriors battled back, with Yager scoring the first goal of his career – a tip-in of a shot by defenceman Denton Mateychuk – at the 10:51 mark of the first period. While it was his first official goal, Yager scored the shootout winner against the Prince Albert Raiders on Sunday.

“He’s a good player,” said Pats defenceman Ryker Evans. “It’s always fun to play against the best players in the league and he’s one of those good players – an up-and-coming young kid.”

However, just under a minute later, Regina’s Cole Dubinsky put another one past Bilous to increase the lead to three once again.

“We played good. We got up early because of the right things that we did in the first two games,” Pats head coach Dave Struch said. “I thought we did a good job tonight for the majority of the game. We have to do a little better at the beginning of the second period and end of the first with the penalties.”

That goal would chase Bilous from the net, with 17-year-old Brett Mirwald taking his place.

And Mirwald would shut the door for the rest of the game.

The Pats went scoreless the rest of the way, with the Warriors getting goals from forward Tate Popple and forward Eric Alarie in the second period and Ryder Korczak in the third.

The game needed an extra frame and a great individual effort by Hunt in front of the Pats’ net led to the game-winning goal. Moose Jaw has gone to overtime in every game this season and have won all three of them.

“We need to be happy with the effort. (There has been) a lot of good execution and it’s the game of hockey. This is the way it goes sometimes,” Struch said.

The Pats are to play the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday – Regina’s fourth game in five days.

Evans doesn’t think the team will be dealing with fatigue, despite there not being a training camp or pre-season.

“All our guys came into camp in really good shape and we emphasized a lot in our cardio in our off-ice training. All the guys came in in good shape and I think that’s why we have an advantage on other teams and work them down but we need to find ways to win,” Evans said.