After playing in a double overtime thriller a week earlier, the Battleford Beaver Blues didn’t want to go back to play in the home of the Glaslyn North Stars.
They made sure that wouldn’t be the case at the Battleford Arena Thursday night, as the Beaver Blues picked up a 5-2 win and completed a clean sweep of the North Stars in their best-of-five Saskatchewan Prairie Hockey League quarter-final series.
“Glaslyn gave us a good fight throughout the entire series, but we were able to take advantage of having home ice,” Beaver Blues forward Cody Danberg said.
“We knew after the second game that we wanted to take care of business here at home and this gives us a lot of momentum heading into the next series.”
Danberg was impressive Thursday night as he scored three goals and had a pair of assists on markers from his linemates Brent Salzl and Mike George.
“We’ve had that chemistry all season long,” Danberg said. “Other teams key on us and they try to limit our space, but we have been able to find a way to open things up.
“We had a slow start tonight, but we were able to cash in on our chances when we needed to. We played great, but it was a total team effort from start to finish.”
While Danberg was quick to credit the other players on the roster, teammate Mitch Phillips was singing the praises of the Beaver Blues talented trio.
“We call them ‘The Dream Team’ and they were lights out for us once again,” Phillips said.
“When that top line steps up, it’s up to the bottom three lines of forwards to grind things out. It comes down to true grit at this time of the year, and that was the difference in this series for us.”
Joel Jullion and Dustin McNabb both scored for the North Stars in the loss.
The Beaver Blues are still awaiting their semifinal opponent, but it looks more than likely that it will be the Edam Three Stars.
The Three Stars hold a 2-0 series lead over the Maymont Settlers and have a chance to complete a series sweep at home Friday night.
“Edam’s a pretty well-rounded team,” Danberg said. “It’s going to come down to overall depth in this series as the second and third lines will be the ones that decide the series.
“Both teams have two of the best goalies in the league so it could be a series where goals might be tough to get sometimes,” Phillips added.
If the Three Stars are able to win the series this weekend, the Beaver Blues would travel to Edam Wednesday for the first game of the best-of-five contest.
The second game is expected to take place at the Battleford Arena Friday night.
Meanwhile, the other SPHL semifinal matchup has been decided as the top-ranked Hafford Hawks will battle it out with the defending league champion Shellbrook Silvertips.
The Silvertips completed a three-game sweep of the Meota Combines Wednesday night with a convincing 7-3 win in Shellbrook.
The Hawks advanced to the league final last weekend after rattling off three straight wins over the Cut Knife Colts.
The schedule for that semi-final series has yet to be announced
