Hilltops clinch first in PFC with 36-11 victory over Thunder
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The Saskatoon Hilltops have once again clinched first-place in the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) after defeating the...
Connor Bedard moved closer to three scoring milestones Saturday.
The Regina Pats captain had three goals and two assists in an 8-4 WHL victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors in front of a soldout crowd of 6,499 fans at the Brandt Centre.
Bedard now is just two goals shy of 50 and just four points shy of 100 on the season. He has 48 goals in 39 games played, making him a virtual lock to reach the legendary threshold of 50 goals in 50 games.
The projected No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL draft, Bedard has 21 goals and 11 assists in 11 games since returning from the 2023 world junior hockey championship.
After Brayden Yager opened the scoring for the Warriors on a penalty shot at 14:50 of the first period, Martin Rysavy stretched the lead to 2-0 at 17:23.
Bedard scored his first goal of the night at 18:43 and the Warriors took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.
Eric Alarie made it 3-1 for Moose Jaw just 49 seconds into the second period, but the Pats got goals from Tye Spencer (at 1:45), Alexander Suzdalev (3:55) and Zane Rowan (6:50) to tie the score.
After Rysavy scored his second goal of the game at 15:15 of the middle frame, Regina’s Borya Valis sniped at 18:08 to send the game into the second intermission tied 4-4.
In the third, Bedard scored goals at 3:56 and 11:17 to complete his sixth hat trick of the season and then assisted on Tanner Howe’s tally at 17:42 to complete his five-point night.
The victory was John Paddock’s 200th as the Pats’ head coach. He’s fourth in franchise history in wins by a coach, just two behind Frank Mario for third.
Drew Sim stopped 39 shots for Regina (25-22-2-1), which jumped into a tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with the Calgary Hitmen (23-22-5-2). Jackson Unger made 19 saves for Moose Jaw (33-17-0-3), which remained in fourth place in the conference.
The Warriors were without four players — Connor Ungar, Max Wanner, Lynden Lakovic and Marek Howell — who had been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation by the league for what the WHL called “possible violations of team rules and the WHL Standard of Conduct policies.”
The league didn’t release any other details.
The Pats are idle until Friday, when they’re to visit the Prince Albert Raiders.