Bedard scores No. 45, but Tigers score five straight to down Pats

The Regina Pats got off to a fast start Sunday in Medicine Hat.

Then they ran out of gas.

Connor Bedard scored his 45th goal of the season to give the Pats the lead after just 73 seconds of action, but the Tigers scored five straight goals en route to a 5-1 WHL victory.

Announced attendance at Co-op Place was 6,178 as the so-called “Bedard Bump” hit Medicine Hat. The Tigers’ previous high for a crowd count this season was 3,244.

Regina ended its swing of four games in six days through Alberta with a 2-1-1-0 record. The Pats return to the Queen City with a 24-22-2-1 record.

Pavel Bocharov, Kurtis Smythe, Rhett Parsons, Dallon Melin (on a penalty shot while the Tigers were short-handed) and Oasiz Wiesblatt had goals for Medicine Hat (21-21-7-1).

The Tigers moved one point ahead of the Swift Current Broncos (23-21-1-2) for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Medicine Hat is just one point back of the seventh-place Pats.

Drew Sim stopped 27 shots in the Pats’ net, while Tigers netminder Beckett Langkow registered 30 saves.

Regina’s next game is Saturday, when the Moose Jaw Warriors visit the Brandt Centre. Game time is 7 p.m.