‘We’ll be back’: Tigers comeback from 3-goal deficit, win in overtime to eliminate Pats in Game 5

The Medicine Hat Tigers celebrate their first round win over the Regina Pats on Cameron Parr's overtime winner in Game 5. (Source: Randy Feere/Medicine Hat Tigers)

Cameron Parr was the overtime hero in Game 5 as the Medicine Hat Tigers eliminated the Regina Pats with a 5-4 win.

In what was Regina’s first playoff appearance since 2023, the Pats’ playoff hopes were crushed by the defending Western Hockey League champions.

“It was a great learning experience for us. Medicine Hat’s one of the top teams in the country for a reason,” head coach Brad Herauf said after the loss. “The biggest thing for us is we wanted to make it difficult and we wanted them to have to change their game because if they don’t change their game, there’s going to run right over you.”

“We should be proud of that. We made them adapt and change some things they were doing with their lines, even with some of their structure. We felt we were able to make it real difficult on them.”

At one point, Regina had a 3-0 lead, but Medicine Hat battled all the way back to tie the game on a favourable Co-Op Place bounce.

With the Tigers on the powerplay with under five minutes to play, Pats’ goalie Marek Schlenker went to play the puck on a dump in. The puck deflected off a stanchion and right onto the stick of Liam Ruck who made no mistake depositing it into the empty net to tie the game 4-4.

Herauf says he has never seen a kick like that in such a moment.

“Just a couple unlucky bounces and we just weren’t on the right end of the bounces tonight,” he said. “That does happen for sure. Or just not with six minutes left, five minutes left in a do or die game. It just was an unfortunate sequence of events.”

“It’s no one’s fault. It just wasn’t in the cards for us,” Herauf said.

In the overtime, Medicine Hat needed less than a minute for Parr to send it past Schlenker to win the game

Regina had early period goals from Dayton Deschamps, Zachary Lansard, Ruslan Karimov.

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Deschamps scored just 1:20 into the game, while Lansard and Karimov added tallies less than three minutes into the second period.

Ellis Mieyette added his first career WHL postseason goal as well.

Medicine Hat pushed back from there with goals from Andrew Basha, Noah Davidson and Bryce Pickford, in addition to Ruck’s tying marker.

The Pats were heavily outshot in the affair, as Schlenker was spectacular in his childhood home again.

Schlenker, who grew up in Medicine Hat, made 32 saves on 37 shots faced in the loss

Jordan Switzer, who did not start Game 4 for Medicine Hat, gave up 4 goals on 21 in the winning decision.

“We learned and we got better from it,” Herauf said about the series. “We’ll be back next year better. Bigger and better.”

“Hats off to our players, our whole organization, the office staff people did a really great job this year. We’re just taking [this] as a learning lesson in our back pocket and we’ll be ready next September 1st.”

Medicine Hat must await the results of the Saskatoon Blades – Edmonton Oil Kings series to know their opponent in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Saskatoon currently leads that series 3-2. Should the Blades eliminate the Oil Kings Sunday, the Tigers will play the Calgary Hitmen in round 2 – and Saskatoon will play the Prince Albert Raiders.

Calgary swept the Brandon Wheat Kings in its series.

If Edmonton wins both Games 5 and 6, then Medicine Hat will be their opponents, with Prince Albert taking on the Hitmen.