The Battlefords AAA Stars took an early lead on the road Thursday night.
Soon after though, the Prince Albert Mintos took control of the remainder of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League contest.
The host Mintos handed the Stars their second straight loss as they cruised to a 6-1 victory at the Art Hauser Centre.
“We felt coming into the game that we would be able to compete with them, as we are both in that tightly contested battle for fifth place in the standings,” Stars head coach Jean Fauchon said. “Instead, it was one of those games where you just put everything aside and work towards getting better for the next game.
“We got to a good start with that early goal, but we were unable to maintain that level of play. They (Prince Albert) were the better team and they were able to win the races to the loose pucks on a regular basis.”
The inability to build off of strong starts is something that Fauchon has noticed as of late, especially in losses last week to the Beardy’s Blackhawks and the Notre Dame Hounds at the Civic Centre.
“I’m not sure what it is that’s causing that, but it’s something we’re going to be working a lot on in practice over the next week,” Fauchon said.
“We’ve had decent starts lately, but something happens where we get off of the game plan. It might be a thing where there’s a fear of what’s going to happen next when we get into certain situations, and we’re going to have to fight to overcome that.”
Adam Beckman had the lone goal for the Stars, with assists on the play going to Mackenzie Donovan and Parker Gavlas.
Goaltender Lance Alm made 31 saves in the loss.
The Mintos, who have a 8-7-1 record, were led on offence by forwards Logan Barlage and Cael Zimmerman, as they each had two goals and an assist.
Kyrell Sopotyk and Ty Mosimann also scored for the home team, while Cale Elder turned aside 19 shots in the victory.
The Stars, who now have a 6-11-2 record, will continue their four game road trip next week.
They will visit the Beardy’s Blackhawks Thursday night before taking on the Tisdale Trojans Saturday and Sunday.
“If we come ready to compete for the full game, I think we can win both of those games,” Fauchon said.
“We had success against Beardy’s until the last few minutes of our game recently, and we already have a win over Tisdale, so we know what it will take to do well against both teams.”
The Stars will return to the Civic Centre on Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a 7:30 p.m. tilt with the Mintos.
