A five-point afternoon from Regina Pat Canadians forward Maddox Schultz helped propel his team to an 8-1 victory on Thursday afternoon against the Okanagan Rockets at the Telus Cup in Chilliwack, B.C.
Eli Johnson opened the scoring with 1:12 remaining in the first period on a pass from Chase Surkan to give the Pat Canadians a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.
The game stayed 1-0 until the dying minutes of the second period.
With less than five minutes to play in the second, the Pat Canadians got goals from Jonah Sivertson, Johnson and Schultz to extend the lead to 4-0 heading into the final period of play. Schultz also had two primary assists in the second frame.
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In the third period, Sivertson made it 5-0 with his second goal of the game coming 3:39 into the third period.
The Rockets responded three minutes later after Sivertson’s goal when Brayden Westman cut the lead to 5-1, but that’s as close as the Rockets would get.
Nathan Gardiner, Schultz and Brodie Bowen all scored in the third period to make it 8-1 for the Pat Canadians to close out the game and move their record to a perfect 4-0 for the tournament.
Between the pipes, goaltender Talyor Tabashniuk stopped 18 of 19 shots that went his way in the victory.
Tabashniuk at the Telus Cup boasts the lowest goals against average among starters with allowing only 1.33 goals per game through three starts. He also has the third-best save percentage of the tournament at 0.938.
The five points from Schultz on the afternoon put him at 14 for the tournament and he could be approaching some elite company when it comes to his point totals.
The record for most points at a Telus Cup in its current iteration is 22, set by current Utah Hockey Club forward Alex Kerfoot back in 2010-11 when he played for the Coquitlam Express.
Overall, Cliff Ronning had 26 points in eight games in 1981-82, making him the all-time points leader in tournament history. Ronning also had 17 goals, which is the most ever; Schultz has eight.
The Pat Canadians have one more round-robin game left on Friday against Chevaliers de Lévis out of Quebec, scheduled for noon in Chilliwack. Chevaliers de Lévis was undefeated at 3-0 heading into action on Thursday.
Both teams have qualified for the playoff rounds, which will start on Saturday. The medal games are on Sunday.