The Battlefords AAA Midget Stars will once again play an all-or-nothing game this post season.
In the first round they beat the Saskatoon Contacts at home in game five to advance and face the league-leading Tisdale Trojans.
Today they travel to Tisdale for another decisive game.
Monday the Stars were in Tisdale for game three, a 5-4 overtime loss.
The teams traded goals in the first period with the Stars striking first.
Captain Keifer Hintz scored halfway through the period from Owen Lamb.
Two and a half minutes later, Matthew Perkins scored an unassisted goal to tie the game.
Less than a minute and a half later, Kyle Salaway restored the Stars lead from Kaelen Holt and Kaleb Dahlgren.
The Trojans outshot the Stars 11-6 in the first.
Holt scored from Dahlgren six minutes into the second to extend the Stars lead.
Five minutes later, James Piller scored on a power play from Parker McCormick and Devin Gerwing to cut the lead to 3-2.
The Stars answered again, this time Keegan McBride scored from Traye Tkatchuk with 5:12 remaining in the second.
The Stars had a 17-9 shot advantage in the period, and a two-goal lead heading into the final frame.
But as the old saying goes, a two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey.
Eight minutes into the third, Kootenay Ice draft pick Drew Warkentine cut the lead to 4-3 from Kalem Zary and Perkins.
Less than two minutes later, Tanner Nagel tied the game from Zary and Brody Ryberg.
For the second straight game, the Stars needed extra time to find a winner.
Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t replicate Saturday’s win.
Four minutes into overtime Nagel scored his second of the game from Zary and Josh McDougall to give the Trojans a 2-1 series lead.
Game four at the Civic Centre Tuesday didn’t start off the way the Stars were hoping.
One minute after puck drop, Warkentine scored his fifth of the playoffs from Piller and Wyatt Riendeau.
Not even two minutes later, Marshall Wilton extended the Trojans lead from Bret Stobbs.
The Stars called their 30-second timeout after Wilton’s goal, and it worked exactly as planned.
Five minutes into the period Layne Young scored his fourth of the playoffs from Chad Grambo to get the Stars on the board.
Four and a half minutes later Spencer Bast cut in front of the net as Trojans goalie Justen Close lost his footing, and fired the puck past Close to tie the game at two.
The power-play goal was assisted by Dahlgren and Tkatchuk.
The scoring outburst continued in the first, this time short-handed.
With Braydon Buziak in the box for goalie interference, Brandon Lesko went on a one-on-one rush.
He pulled the puck around the defenceman, held him off with one hand and swept the puck through the five-hole of Close to give the Stars their first lead of the game.
The shots ended 17-10 in favour of Tisdale after the first, which was a sign of things to come.
No scoring in the second period saw the Trojans outshoot the Stars by a 15-4 margin thanks to two power plays.
The Trojans had numerous chances to tie the game, but finished 0-for-10 on the man advantage.
The third period may have seen the Trojans best opportunities to score, as four minutes into the frame they were on the power play when Tyler Baier was called for interference.
Five seconds after Baier exited the penalty box, Young was charged for tripping.
Later in the frame the Trojans had back-to-back power plays when Lesko was called for slashing and with 22 seconds remaining in Lesko’s penalty, Dawson Bacon was called for boarding.
After a shaky start, Brett Pongracz stood tall when the Stars needed him most as he finished the game with 47 saves as the Stars survived the Trojans attack to win 3-2.
The Stars are in Tisdale Thursday with the winner of tonight’s game moving on to the finals to face the Regina Pat Canadians.
