The Battlefords AAA Stars won two out of three games last week to keep pace with the Notre Dame Argos in the SMAAAHL standings.
The Argos are three points ahead of the Stars for first in the league.
Josh Bly had two goals and an assist for the Stars in a 5-3 win against the Prince Albert Mintos Thursday night at the Civic Centre.
Josh LaFramboise opened the scoring on a power play with 5:47 remaining in the first period. He called for a pass and picked the top corner over Mintos goaltender Connor Ingram.
Prince Albert tied it with a shorthanded goal with 2:46 to play in the frame. Stars defenceman Corbin Schmidt turned the puck over to Mintos forward Carson Cayer, who had a breakaway. Cayer snapped the puck past Stars goaltender Ryan Rewerts' blocker to make the score 1-1.
The Stars regained the lead with six seconds left on the same power play. With 2:08 remaining, Spencer Bast redirected LaFramboise's point shot past Ingram.
In the second, the Stars extended their lead to two 1:32 into the period. Bly scored his first when he tipped Brandon Lesko's shot past Ingram.
Prince Albert cut the lead to one 4:46 into the period on the power play. Jared Blaquiere redirected Loch Morrison's shot through Rewerts' legs to make the score 3-2 for the Stars.
Battlefords restored their two-goal lead 1:12 later. Troy Gerein's shot hit Lesko in front of the net and deflected past Ingram. The Mintos goalie thought he was interfered with, but the goal counted. The goal ended Ingram's night as he was pulled for Lane Michasiw. Ingram stopped 14 of 18 shots.
The Mintos used the power play again to bring Prince Albert within one. Brody Reimer's point shot found its way through traffic and beat Rewerts on his blocker side with 9:29 remaining in the second.
Rewerts was strong the rest of the way for the Stars, stopping all 10 shots faced in the third period. Bly scored his second goal of the game into an empty net with 43 seconds left in the game to secure the 5-3 win.
The Stars travelled to Yorkton to play two games against the Harvest over the weekend.
Bast sparked the offence in the Stars' 6-2 win over the Harvest Saturday night. Batttlefords never trailed in the game as they scored two goals in each period. LaFramboise and Mason Benning also found the back of the net for the Stars. Logan Leslie and Korwin Shewchuk were Yorkton's goal scorers.
Rewerts made 24 saves to pick up his 17th win of the season.
Chase McKersie scored with 1:15 remaining in overtime to give the Harvest a 4-3 win over the Stars Sunday afternoon. It was McKersie's second goal of the game. LaFramboise and Bast both scored in the first two periods, but the Stars trailed 3-2 heading into the third. Alex Pernitsky sent the game to overtime with a goal midway through the third period. Jaden Krecklewich and Levi Morin were the other goal scorers for the Harvest, both finding the back of the net in the second period.
Battlefords goaltender Rylan Toth stopped 27 shots in his fourth loss of the season.
Following the weekend, Bast and Bly are tied for second in the league with 60 points each. LaFramboise has fallen to sixth in the league with 55 points on the year.
The Stars (27-7-5-3) return home to play the Notre Dame Hounds Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the Civic Centre. Both games start at 2 p.m.
