Broncos Pats Cave copy
Colby Cave (photo by Darwin Knelsen for scbroncos.com)

Daniel Wapple made 35 saves as the Regina Pats beat the Swift Current Broncos 4-2 in game one of their first round series.

Pavel Padakin scored twice in the final 1:26 of the first period to pull Regina ahead for good after the Broncos had completely controlled the play out of the gates.

"The goals against late in first is something we need to correct," Dixon said. "They're all minor details where we need to do a better job checking. After that settled down and played a very hard game. It's a series."

Swift Current was all over the Pats right off the opening draw and struck first when Glenn Gawdin knocked in the rebound of an Andreas Schumacher shot that went wide. They built on that and at one point were outshooting Regina 15-4.

"It was certainly a very good start for our hockey club," Dixon said. "We were happy with the intensity, with the way we were able to set the tone right off the bat. We got the puck in deep, created a forecheck, we had numerous scoring chances and good time of possession in the offensive zone."

A funny hop off the glass in Swift Current territory turned into a Patrick D'Amico goal midway through the period as he snuck one under Landon Bow. Padakin's two goals then gave Regina a surprising 3-1 lead through twenty minutes of play.

"It's playoff hockey and there's going to be breaks that go against you," Dixon said. "The important thing is we are able to park any frustration, park anything that doesn't go our way so we can refocus and go back to the way we were playing."

"Certainly that's a good lesson for our group when you're having such an excellent start and you have a defensive breakdown that's fine park it and go back to the things you were doing to have success."

Bow was strong early in the second period as the Broncos weathered a good Regina attack and started to push back. Jay Merkley wired a puck by Wapple midway through the period and got the Broncos back to within a goal after a strong forecheck.

Swift Current kept pushing in the third and just couldn't beat Wapple or find the handle on a puck that seemed to be bouncing all over the ice. Regina then shut their attack down in the final few minutes and Braden Christoffer iced the game into an empty net.

"We didn't need to force plays from bellow the goal line," Dixon said. "We had opportunities when we were cycling it and we're having time of possession in the offensive zone we're able to keep possession we're able to create chances. The chances might take five seconds or twenty five seconds, but when you start to try to deviate from the system and you throw pucks out front that just enables their transition game and takes the pressure in the offensive zone away."

Pats all-star defenceman Colby Williams left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury. He returned in the third period and broke up several Swift Current opportunities in the process. His status will certainly be one to watch as he is the undisputed top defenceman on the Pats.

Both teams went 0 for 1 on the man advantage as the referees generally put their whistles away and let the teams decide the game at even strength.

They're right back at it on Saturday night in Regina. Our broadcast starts at 6:30pm on The Eagle 94.1 FM. The series shifts to Swift Current on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.