There is a fine line in sports between a successful weekend and a disappointing one.
The Battlefords North Stars went 0-1-0-2 in their three-games in four-nights stretch of the schedule beginning Friday in Flin Flon.
The North Stars suffered two shootout losses on the northern road trip in Flin Flon and La Ronge and fell to Estevan on home ice Monday making the climb out of fourth place in the Bauer Conference even more difficult.
It was a slow start from the North Stars Monday night, as they trailed the Bruins 1-0 after Dylan Smith scored a late first-period goal.
The North Stars responded quickly in the second, on what was their best effort on their seven power play chances. Brody Luhning gained the zone and dropped a pass to Braeden Johnson. He passed the puck along the blue-line to Joren Johnson. He wristed a point shot through traffic and by Estevan's Brett Lewchuk. Lewchuk is a Bruins' affiliate player who has been one of the best goalies in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League this season playing with the Saskatoon Blazers.
The North Stars were flat footed and appeared not emotionally into the game through most of the second period, as Matt Brykaliuk scored on a bad angle. Calder Neufeld scored on the power play over Casey Parker's shoulder. Hudson Morrison beat Parker in the same spot off the rush. That marked the end of Parker's night, as he made 15 saves on 19 shots and was replaced by Connor Creech halfway through the second period.
Later in the period, the North Stars had more than a minute of sustained pressure and it was Tanner Quinn capitalizing on a rebound for his 10th goal of the season. Luhning's point shot drew him an assist as well as Robbie Newton.
In the third period, the North Stars tried to turn up the pressure, but it was Morrison scoring for Estevan and sealing the 5-2 win.
Lewchuk made 38 saves for the Bruins while Creech made six in a relief appearance. The Bruins were 1/5 with the man advantage while the North Stars struggled at times and were just 1/7.
Saturday in La Ronge, the North Stars trailed the Ice Wolves 2-1 after the first period. Kyle Hall had the North Stars' goal with Dillon Forbes drawing the assist.
Jake McMillen and Quinn would score the other goals with Ben Greenaway, Forbes and Travis Marit earning the assists. Quinn's third-period goal tied the game at 3-3 and overtime was needed.
Nothing was solved and Luhning, Marit and Blake Young were all stopped in the shootout while Graham Smerek scored the lone Ice Wolves' goal. He helped his team earn the 4-3 win and snap a long losing streak.
The night before, Quinn scored again along with Greenaway and Brandon Long, but it was a lucky bounce for the Bombers in the third period that tied the game. Creech tried to clear the puck but the shot when off a Bombers' fore checker and into the net.
Dylan Balaski and Riley Storzuk scored in the shootout for the Bombers while Luhning scored and Long and McMillen were stopped. The North Stars fell 4-3 again in a shootout.
The North Stars are now in the midst of a six-day break, as they look to refocus and recover from some nagging injuries. Their next action will be Sunday in Humboldt.
The North Stars remain in fourth place in the Bauer Conference with a 24-19-2-5 record and have struggled recently, winning just once in their last seven games.
