It was a shooting gallery last night in the provincial capital.
Luckily for the Pats, goaltender Matt Hewitt did a fine job acting as a target.
The 18 year old goaltender made 59 saves on 62 shot as his team found a way to hang on and beat the Blades 4-3 in a shootout.
The Pats opened the scoring at 3:09 as Lyndon Martell crashed the crease and banged a puck past Adam Morrison.
That lead was doubled to 2-0 at 10:41 as Garrett Mitchell scored on the powerplay for the Pats.
The Blades had outshot Regina 22-13 in the first period, but couldn't find the back of the net.
Finally they got on the board at 6:26 of the 2nd period as Lukas Sutter got his 4th goal of the season to cut the lead in half.
The score was 2-1 after two, the shots were 41-19 at that point.
A frustrated Blades team finally evened things up as defenseman Stefan Elliott got his 19th goal of the year at 2:53 of the third period.
But it didn't take long for the Pats to answer back and regain the lead. Assistant captain Art Bidlevski scored his first of the season at 6:15 as it was back to the drawing board for the Blades.
But, shortly after scoring the go ahead goal, Bidlevski was whistled for a trip and was sent to the box for 2 minutes or less. Marek Viedensky picked up the puck on the half boards, walked to the middle of the ice near the top of the circle on his off wing and ripped a wrister on net. Hewitt got his glove on it, but not all of it as it went through his glove, up and over him and into the net.
The game was tied once again.
Neither team scored in the overtime frame, that despite a very good chance for the Blades. Shayne Neigum drilled Teigan Zahn into the boards from behind in the Blades end, which allowed the Blades a 4 minute PP chance in OT as they skated 4 on 3.
The Blades had 4 shots in overtime, but once again they couldn't beat Hewitt.
So the game came down to a shootout.
Jake Trask went first for Saskatoon and scored.
Jordan Weal went for Regina and made it look too easy, evening the score.
Matej Stransky went for Saskatoon and couldn't beat Hewittt.
Colin Reddin was stopped for Regina.
Marek Viedensky slipped it five hole on Hewitt to put the Blades ahead.
Shayne Neigum needed to score, and did, tying the shootout at 2.
Ryan Olsen shot next for Saskatoon and fired it high and wide.
Captain Garrett Mitchell had a chance to win it for the Pats, and deked from backhand to forehand and slid it past Adam Morrison for the win.
It was a frustrating loss for the Blades, who definitely dominated the game and deserved the win.
The shots ended up being 62-33 in favor of the Blades.
The reffing was also an adventure, to say the least.
In the third period Brent Benson was hauled down on a partial breakaway. He slid into the goalie as the puck ended up in the net. The goal never counted, there was no penalty shot, there was no penalty AND the faceoff came outside the zone.
Neigum's hit from behind on Zahn could have definitely been a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. As it turned out, Neigum was allowed to stay in the game and had a huge shootout goal.
Either way, it was a tough pill to swallow.
Up next for the Blades a home and home with the Broncos on Friday and Saturday.
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