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The playoff rally towels were out in full force as the WHL playoffs returned to the SaskTel Centre on Friday night.
It’s been 17 years since the last time the Saskatoon Blades and Regina Pats met in the postseason and the Pats were able to take a 1-0 series lead after a 6-1 victory in Game 1.
“I thought we played a pretty good game in all three zones from start to finish,” Pats head coach John Paddock said following the win.
The energy was there from the 10,265 fans in attendance, and that carried onto the ice as the pace of play from both sides was fast throughout the first period, but it remained scoreless after 20 minutes.
Regina was able to strike first on the scoresheet in a memorable way, as forward Zackary Shantz scored the first goal in his WHL career after being left wide open in the slot.
“That was awesome. I mean, he’s such a good guy and we’ve seen his talent and everything. Obviously he had an unfortunate injury for a lot of the year … he’s been such a spark for us,” Pats captain Connor Bedard said postgame.
Then shortly after that Bedard himself got into the action and showed why he is the number-one prospect in hockey.
He danced around Blades defenceman Ben Saunderson for a highlight reel goal to give Regina a two-goal lead.
It was bound to happen at some point. Bedard’s first of the #WHLPlayoffs
— steve seto (@steveseto) April 1, 2023
Regina stretched their lead to three after Riley Ginnell sent a bouncing puck from the red-line that skipped past Austin Elliot nine seconds into the third period.
But Saskatoon had a quick response to that as Lukas Hansen fired his first of the playoffs past Drew Sim 22 seconds after for two goals in the first 40 seconds of the third.
“When things are going your way, that just gives you a little bit of an energy boost and we sort of gave it back right away, but I think the guys just fed off those kind of positive things that happened,” Paddock said.
But the Pats ended any chance of a Blades comeback after Stanislav Svozil made it a 4-1 game halfway through the third and then Bedard scored his second highlight goal of the evening dancing around Saunderson yet again.
No caption needed… second of the night from Bedard. #WHLPlayoffs
— steve seto (@steveseto) April 1, 2023
Saskatoon tried to create a little bit of energy late by pulling Elliott with just under three minutes left in the game, only to have Tye Spencer score in the empty cage making it 6-1.
Blades Head Coach Brennan Sonne said his team played a well and followed the game plan, but he wanted to see a bit more from them.
“While it’s great to be structured and detailed and follow the plan, there’s also got to be a little bit of desperation, would be the word,” Sonne said.
“We’ve got to get to that next gear, which is a playoff gear, and I just didn’t think we were there enough tonight,” he added.
While the Pats will enjoy taking the first game in Saskatoon, they know they have more work to do.
“It’s one game and it’s a seven-game series, so you’ve got to win three more. We’re not looking too much into it. Obviously we’re happy with that win, but there’s a lot more to go,” Bedard said. “It’s in the past now, we’ve got to go win Sunday, and that’s all we’re focused on.”
Game 2 is set for Sunday afternoon with puck-drop at 4 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.