Three unanswered goals in the third period of game one gave Regina the opening win of the best of five series. There was some controversy at the end of the game, though. The Stars seemed to have scored in the final frame before the clock hit zero, but, after deliberating with the timekeeper, the officials determined the tying goal was disallowed. The game was under protest and won by the Stars, who will play game three then finish the overtime of game one.
Nonetheless, Sunday afternoon the Stars were back on home turf, looking to gain what narrowly slipped out of their hands just two days ago, a playoff victory.
It didn’t take long for Stars netminder Jake Taylor to see some action. The Pats were sprung for a breakaway but Taylor was up for the challenge, making a pad save to keep the game scoreless early on.
Regina got on the board in the middle stanza. A flurry of shots stopped by Taylor wasn’t enough as Carson Focht finally put away a rebound, giving the Pats a 1-0 lead. Carson Denomie and Mark Edmands collaborated on the tally.
As Jordan Mish’s penalty ended, the Pats were able to jump on another rebound on a scramble play in the slot. After Taylor made the initial kick save, he sprawled out to try and stop Randen Schmidt but to no avail. Edmands and Tylor Ludwar drew the assists on his fifth goal of the year.
Stars then had a chance to cut the deficit to one late in the second period. The puck was seen crossing the goal line after Ben Hiltz jammed away at it, but the official blew the play dead a split second before it had clearly crossed the line.
After 40 minutes of play the shots were 20-12 Regina.
The third period saw a lot of neutral zone action, with neither team controlling the pace of play. Turner Ripplinger had the lone chance through the opening ten minutes, one-timing a shot into the crest of Taylor.
The lack of scoring opportunities didn’t bode well for the Stars, as they came out on the wrong side of a 2-0 game.
Curtis Meger ended the day with a 24-save shutout while his counterpart in Taylor stopped 22 of 24 shots.
The Stars now have a chance to either tie the series in overtime before game three or go down two games to none. Big opportunities still lie ahead for this team so stay tuned. Game three goes Tuesday in Regina. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
