LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — The Western Hockey League championship is set.
The Regina Pats scored five straight goals to come from behind and defeat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-4 on Sunday in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final.
The Pats will play the Seattle Thunderbirds for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Game 1 goes Friday in Regina.
Filip Ahl began the comeback for the Pats when he scored at 15:47 of the second period and Nick Henry tied the game less than two minutes later.
Jeff de Wit and Austin Wagner scored a minute apart midway through the third while Wyatt Sloboshan added an empty netter to complete a three-point outing. Robbie Holmes and Josh Mahura had first-period goals to round out the offence.
Egor Babenko, Jordy Bellerive and Ryan Vandervlis scored to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead just eight minutes into the game. Giorgio Estephan’s goal 1:05 into the second gave Seattle a 4-2 lead.
Tyler Brown made 24 saves for the win as Stuart Skinner stopped 38-of-44 shots in a losing cause.
Regina went 1 for 3 on the power play while Lethbridge went 3 for 3 with the man advantage.
The Pats, who entered the post-season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, set a franchise record for wins in the regular season. Their last WHL championship came back in 1980.
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THUNDERBIRDS 3 ROCKETS 1
KELOWNA, B.C. — Austin Strand scored the first of three straight goals in the second period as Seattle downed the Rockets in Game 6 of the Western Conference final.
Alexander True and Mathew Barzal also found the back of the net for the Thunderbirds, who got a 17-save outing from Carl Stankowski.
Nolan Foote was the lone scorer for Kelowna. Michael Herringer stopped 19-of-22 shots in a losing cause.
Seattle’s Keegan Kolesar was ejected late in the first period after receiving a major for checking from behind.
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