Maybe it was the emotional let down after winning a game seven in overtime, or the short rest between series, or simply the depth and talent of the Humboldt Broncos. Whatever the reason, the Battlefords North Stars find themselves down 2-0 in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Bauer Conference final.
The North Stars haven't made excuses all season and aren't about to now, as they prepare for game three Tuesday in Humboldt and game four Wednesday at the Civic Centre.
"We took the night off," said coach Kevin Hasselberg after the first game of the series. "They play a much different style than the Nipawin Hawks and it is definitely a challenge. Coming into a game after playing seven games against the same hockey team like that, to make those adjustments on the run, with only a couple days to prepare, is not easy."
Friday in Humboldt, the North Stars didn't appear ready for what the Broncos were going to throw at them. Mental and physical mistakes led to the Broncos scoring three goals per period and skating to a 9-4 win.
The North Stars couldn't keep pace with the Broncos, after the home team went up 2-0 just over five minutes into the game. The Broncos galloped out of the gate with Joey Davies scoring the first goal on a deflected point shot. Minutes later, Robbie Ciolfi scored on the power play putting the Broncos in control.
The North Stars tried to turn the tide and responded with a goal from Dillon Forbes. After winning the faceoff back to Forbes, the North Stars' forwards created traffic in front, and Forbes netted his first goal of the playoffs. Ryne Keller and Robbie Newton had the assists on the goal.
It looked as though the North Stars would head into the second period with some momentum and trailing by just a goal, but with 38 seconds left in the period, Ciolfi scored his second of the game. The Broncos held a two-goal lead at the intermission - a lead they would never relinquish.
Ciolfi completed the natural hat trick two minutes into the second period and that marked the end of Connor Creech's night in goal.
Graham Hildebrand replaced Creech, and the first shot he faced was on a breakaway by Adam Zbitniff. Zbitniff scored making it 5-1.
Humboldt's Emrik Guillemette increased the lead later in the second period, as the home team was in complete control.
Still in the second period, Braeden Johnson scored for the North Stars in the second half of the period to give his team some life. Blake Tatchell and Woody Klassen assisted on his second of the playoffs.
In the third, it appeared the North Stars were going to make a comeback attempt, as Kyle Hall scored three minutes in on a rebound off of Matt Hrynkiw. Jordan Ethier and Brody Luhning assisted on Hall's third of the playoffs.
The Broncos spoiled the North Stars' comeback attempt with goals from Davis and Ryan Marshall, who scored on a penalty shot two minutes later.
With the scoreboard reading 8-3, Tim Rollins capitalized on a Broncos' breakdown and netted his first of the playoffs from Brett Miller and Luhning.
Humboldt capped off the night's scoring with Ciolfi's fourth goal of the game and ninth of the playoffs.
After the 9-4 loss the message from Hasselberg was that it was simply one loss in a series where a team needs to lose four times.
"You don't want to lose a game the way we lost that game, but it is just 1-0 in the series regardless of what the score was in this hockey game," said Hasselberg.
Saturday, the North Stars were back on home ice and tried to use the 2,106 fans' support to even the series.
The home team brought the crowd to their feet with a power play goal five minutes into the game. Mitch Berg scored with a slapshot from the point for his third goal of the playoffs. Klay Kachur and Ethier assisted on the goal.
After making no changes to the North Stars' lineup after the game one loss, Creech was in net once again for the North Stars. Later in the first, he was beat by Zbitniff, who capitalized on a open net with five minutes to go in the first period. After 20 minutes the score was 1-1.
In the second it was defenceman Josh Roach scoring on a point shot during a power play making it 2-1 for the Brocnos.
The North Stars and Broncos traded scoring chances and puck possession, but after the second period the Broncos held the 2-1 lead.
In the third, the Broncos scored two minutes in off the stick of Nathan Hudema and after that all but shut down the North Stars.
The game slowed to a snail's pace with several whistles and the North Stars couldn't break the Broncos' defensive play while the physical play continued. Boyd Wakelin stepped up to defend his linemate Tatchell, who was hit hard twice by Davies in the third period, hoping it would spark his team, but that wasn't the case. It was a much better effort from the North Stars Saturday and a much more even game, but when the final buzzer sounded the North Stars were down 2-0 in the series.
Colin Dzijacky made 27 saves Saturday for the win while Creech stopped 31 shots in the loss.
Friday, Hrynkiw made 29 saves for the win, while Creech allowed four goals on 15 shots and Hildebrand stopped seven of 12 shots.
After two games, the Broncos were 2/8 on the power play while the North Stars were 1/8.
Down 2-0, the North Stars will need to find the same effort they did against Nipawin, which helped them come back from a 3-1 series deficit. Including the regular season the North Stars have now lost five straight games to the Broncos and haven't beat Humboldt since Nov. 5. The urgency has to be setting in.
"We came off a hard series that went really fast, (the two-day break) will give our guys some time to digest what happened," said Hasselberg. "There was a lot of things that we built on and got better at and improved on from game one. If we can make those same improvements going into game three now, it is going to bring us that much closer to the result we want. That is all we need. We just need the one game, and that is all we are going to focus on."
