Riders beat Lions to punch ticket to CFL West final
Nov 03, 2024
The Riders are back in the West final for the first time since 2021.
The Regina Pats couldn’t find a way to beat the Winnipeg Ice for the first time this WHL season on Saturday — and the 6-4 loss also means Regina’s season will come to an end Sunday.
The Pats’ loss, paired with a 5-1 Prince Albert Raiders win over the Brandon Wheat Kings, eliminated Regina from the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Raiders earned the eighth and final spot in the conference’s post-season bracket.
Prince Albert finished its regular-season schedule with a 28-35-4-1 record and 61 points, two more than the Swift Current Broncos (26-35-5-2), three ahead of the Calgary Hitmen (25-34-6-2) and four more than the Pats (26-36-3-2).
Regina and Calgary have just one game left in their regular seasons and therefore can’t catch the Raiders. The Pats are to play host to the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sunday, when the Hitmen entertain the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Winnipeg, which was technically the home team on Saturday after an April blizzard moved the game from Manitoba, got out to a first-period lead with Jack Finley getting a puck past Pats goalie Spencer Welke.
Just 2:02 later, Pats captain Logan Nijhoff beat Winnipeg goaltender Daniel Hauser to tie it at 1-1 in front of 1,481 fans — the second-lowest attendance at the Brandt Centre this season.
There were plenty of goals to go around in the second period, with Winnipeg finding some from Owen Pederson, Mikey Milne, Zachary Benson and Tanner Brown. The Pats’ second-period goals came from Nijhoff and Braxton Whitehead.
In the third period, the Pats pulled within one after a goal from Easton Armstrong. But Winnipeg put the game on ice with an empty-net goal from Matthew Savoie.
In Prince Albert, Evan Herman and Keaton Sorensen each scored twice for the Raiders, who got their other goal from Carson Latimer. Brett Hyland replied for the Wheat Kings.
Prince Albert is to face Winnipeg in the first round of the playoffs. In the other series, Moose Jaw is to meet the Saskatoon Blades, Lethbridge is to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings and Brandon is to face the Red Deer Rebels.