At the start of the Bauer Conference Survivor Series, the Battlefords North Stars and their supporters weren't anticipating it would come to this, but the North Stars were facing a sweep.
Remember last year, they fell behind 3-0 and 3-1 in the playoffs against Humboldt and Nipawin and rallied to extend the series with Humboldt and beat the Hawks?
Monday was the first day of the comeback attempt, as the North Stars trailed the Melfort Mustangs 2-0 in the series.
In game one Friday at the Civic Centre, it was a mediocre effort from the North Stars and a bad second period that put them down 1-0 in the series.
The North Stars grabbed the 1-0 lead after Ben Greenaway scored on a weak backhand from boards on a bad angle. Wilkins misplayed it and the North Stars had their first goal. Luke McColgan and Blake Young had the assists.
After failing to increase the lead despite an 18-11 shot advantage, the North Stars saw their momentum and lead evaporate in the second period.
Regan Wilton scored a soft goal on Connor Creech with a shot from the boards that went off the top of Creech's glove and in behind the goal-line. Five minutes later, Jarrett Zenter dumped the puck in from centre ice and caught Creech off guard. The puck deflected off Creech's stick and into the top corner making it 2-1.
Before the period ended, Logan Sceviour deflected a pass from the high slot making it 3-1 for the visitors.
In the third period, Braeden Johnson tried to spark his team with a fight on the opening faceoff. Wilton wouldn't entertain the idea, but did seconds later on a faceoff in the North Stars' zone. Both players received fighting majors and game misconduct penalties.
Without one of their veteran forwards to help with the comeback attempt, the North Stars fell short and Brandon Sloan scored an insurance marker later in the period by grabbing a rebound on a power play.
Wilkins made 34 saves in the win while the Creech faced 35 shots.
"We aren't going to single anybody out, everybody was awful tonight," said head coach and general manager Kevin Hasselberg, who also faulted the coaching staff for not having the players prepared for the game. "Trying isn't good enough at this point, you have to get results and no matter how hard you work, if you aren't willing to reward yourself by hitting the net or giving yourself a chance it will not work."
Saturday, the teams were back on the ice, this time in Melfort. The North Stars grabbed the 2-1 lead after the first period thanks to goals by Johnson and Brody Luhning. Kyle Hall, Ryne Keller, McColgan and Young had the assists for the North Stars while Zenter scored for the Mustangs.
In the second period, the Mustangs outscored the North Stars 2-1 and tied the game heading into the third period.
Sceviour and Sloan scored for Melfort and it was Austin Evans scoring for the North Stars with Kyle Schmidt earning the assist.
In the third period, Cole Hyrsky scored twice for Melfort while Godric Tham had one goal. After the North Stars went down 6-3, Creech was replaced by Casey Parker. Schmidt scored a late goal for the North Stars with Quinn and Newton earning the assists. Sceviour scored an empty net goal to secure the 7-4 win.
Monday night was game three at the Civic Centre, as the North Stars looked to extend their season.
