One period made all the difference at the Art Hauser Centre Sunday afternoon.
The Prince Albert Mintos were outshot by a 22-2 margin during the second stanza by the Regina Pat Canadians and were unable to claw their way back as they came out on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision.
“I thought we had a really good first period and we played fairly well in the third, but the game definitely got away from us there in the second,” Mintos head coach Danton Danielson said.
“We stopped doing what worked well for us early on as we were reaching for the puck instead of making plays that we know work. It’s tough to say how things could have gone, but that period was probably the difference as the rest of the game was pretty even.”
Sunday’s triumph for the Pat Canadians was their third in four meetings against the Mintos this season, as they improved to 15-5-0-2 after winning their eighth game in a row.
“We’ve had a really tough time in the second this year but we probably had our best period of the entire season today,” Pat Canadians head coach Darrin McKechnie said.
“I thought the boys played really well today after we had a good game last night in Beardy’s. The Mintos always play hard and they move the puck well, so we needed to have our ‘A’ game this afternoon.”
Cal Caragata, Noah Kuntz, Tyler Dingley and Brayden Barnett all scored for the Pat Canadians, who are in fourth in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League standings and are just one marker behind the Moose Jaw Warriors, Saskatoon Blazers and Saskatoon Contacts.
Jared Thompson turned aside 15 shots for the visitors.
The Mintos, who are now 13-9 on the campaign and are in fifth place in the league table, got their goals from Dawson Springer and Chase Bertholet.
Joel Favreau was busy all afternoon and came away with a 33-save showing.
As the Mintos gear up for a Tuesday night road clash with the Contacts, they will do so without the services of Gabe Klassen as the 16-year-old Prince Albert product will be staying with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks for the rest of the campaign.
A first round pick by the Winterhawks in the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, Klassen has four points in eight games for the US Division side.
With his departure, the Mintos are bringing in 2003-born forward Kody Willick, who has 28 points in 19 games this year for the Saskatoon Midget AA Sabrecats.
Medicine Hat Tigers prospect Ashton Ferster is close to returning to in-game action after being sidelined with a broken wrist since mid-October.
He could be back in the lineup for the Mintos this weekend when they will host the Notre Dame Argos for a pair of games.
