The Pats forced overtime and then the eventual shootout as they picked up the extra point tonight in a 6-5 ending at the Brandt Center.
The Broncos led 2-0 after the first period on goals from Justin Dowling and Dillon Wagner (although Matt Tassone was credited with the goal).
The Pats used their potent powerplay to tie it seven minutes into the 2nd on goals by Garrett Mitchell and Colten Teubert. The Broncos restored a two-goal lead on tallies from Adam Lowry and Michael Stickland a little later on in the period but Jordan Eberle cut the lead to 4-3 with his 35th of the season with just under two minutes to go in the period.
The Broncos scored what I thought was going to be the back-breaker as Cody Eakin found Michael Stickland on the 2-on-1 to give the Broncos a 5-3 third period lead four minutes deep.
The Pats had other ideas as Mitch McColm scored four-on-four on the set-up from Eberle minutes later. Cass Mappin tied it with 12 minutes to play as he trailed the play and took the pass from Mitchell.
Despite a few chances, the teams played a scoreless stretch from there to send the game to overtime tied 5-5.
The Pats had a great chance to end the game in overtime when Matt Tassone took a penalty with three minutes to go in OT. The Pats pressured but couldn’t find the winner and we were off to a shootout for the 2nd time in a row between these teams.
Eberle and Weal beat Mark Friesen while both go-to shootout studs for the Broncos Cody Eakin and Brad Hoban were both stopped by Damien Ketlo. Those two shooters beat Ketlo last Saturday but not on this night.
The Broncos get a point out of Regina but had a chance to get both. Instead the Pats get both and stay alive in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
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My not so smooth move on the night happened in the 2nd intermission. I inadvertently tore the phone line jack right off it’s mount and cut the broadcast off. I call it pulling a “Karl Benke”. A few years ago the lumbering defenseman sat beside me in Cranbrook and got his size 14’s tied it up in all my cables and lines underneath the desk. When he stood up he pulled the whole broadcast unit of the ledge and knocked us off the air.
Despite the feverish work of an in-house tech and the Pats Dan Plaster trying to come up with a solution for my “Benke”, I called the rest of the game and post-game show with my cell phone.
That would be a first for me.
The Bronco host the Pats tonight in the rematch of the home-and-home set. It’s Innovation Credit Union Pack the Plex night. Let’s sell out the joint!
Broncos and Pats – face-off at 7:30pm
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