The Regina Pats dropped the opening game of their six game road trip 6-0 to the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre on Friday night.
Dylan Ernst made 31 saves for his sixth career shutout and first of the season for Kamloops. Tommy Lafreniere (1G-2A) and Emmitt Finnie (1G-2A) each had three point games for the Blazers as they broke their four game losing skid.
The Pats ran into penalty trouble, going short-handed for a season-high eight times. Kelton Pyne got the start, allowing five goals on 21 shots in just over 34 minutes of ice time. Ewan Huet played the final 25 minutes, allowing just one goal on 21 shots.
FINAL SCORE: Blazers 6, Pats 0
THE GOALS
First Period
1-0: Blazers at 5:19 – Jordan Keller (12), assisted by Tommy Lafreniere & Emmitt Finnie (PP) // The Blazers worked the puck along the left side and Lafreniere found Keller with a cross ice pass and he fired it home to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead.
2-0: Blazers at 11:58 – Emmitt Finnie (17), assisted by Jordan Keller & Tommy Lafreniere // The Blazers broke in on a rush and Keller sent a pass to Finnie at the left wing and he fired the puck over Pyne's right shoulder to extend the Blazer lead to 2-0.
Second Period
3-0: Blazers at 7:31 – Nathan Behm (15), assisted by Vit Zahejsky & Matteo Koci // Behm got the puck along the left boards and skated to the circle and his shot snuck under Pyne to make it 3-0 for the hometown squad.
4-0: Blazers at 14:31 – Tommy Lafreniere (11), assisted by Emmitt Finnie & Oren Shtrom (PP) // Lafreniere got alone in front of Pyne and he snuck the shot under the Pats netminder to make it 4-0.
5-0: Blazers at 14:47 – Kai Matthew (5), assisted by John Szabo & Max Sullivan // Matthew got the puck in the right circle, spun and shot it under Pyne to extend the lead to 5-0.
Third Period
6-0: Blazers at 8:09 – Nathan Behm (16), assisted by NIko Taskumis // Behm hit the Pats line with speed, got behind the defence and tucked a shot under Huet to extend the lead to six.
THE STATISTICS
SOG: Regina – 12-10-9–31 | Kamloops – 15-10-17–42
PP: Regina – 0/4 | Kamloops – 2/8
THE GOALTENDING BATTLE
Regina: Kelton Pyne (16 saves / 21 shots in 34:47) & Ewan Huet (20 saves / 21 shots in 25:13)
Kamloops: Dylan Ernst (31 saves / 31 shots)
THE 3 STARS
First: Tommy Lafreniere (1G-2A) – Blazers
Second: Emmitt Finnie (1G-2A) – Blazers
Third: Dylan Ernst (31SVS, SO) – Blazers
COMING UP
The continue their six-game west coast road trip on Saturday when they skate into Kelowna to face off with the Rockets with an 8:05 p.m. SK time puck drop. The Pats will return back home on December 13.