A pair of goals from Dustin Gorgi and Braydon Buziak led the way to a 5-1 victory Wednesday night at the Civic Centre.
These two teams last clashed in Pinehouse, where the Battlefords were victorious in a 1-0 game. Taryn Kotchorek came away with the shutout, and had yet another impactful game in his first start since departing for the Christmas break, kicking away 27 of 28 shots.
“That’s not an easy thing on a goaltender. He has exceeded our expectations and I know, for Taryn, he has to be ready when he get’s his starts. He makes you feel confident when he’s in there,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game.
Buziak scored before fans at the Civic Centre had time to find their seat. After Coby Downs won the faceoff, the forward broke through the final line of defence and into the slot. Showing tremendous patience and the ability to wait out goaltender Dakota Kenyon, Buziak went forehand-backhand to the far side, delivering a shot over the glove, giving the Battlefords a 1-0 lead.
Dustin Gorgi has been using his vision in the last three games, recording six assists. Wednesday he showed off his skill set scoring his 18th and 19th of the year. Gorgi picked up his own rebound before Kenyon had time to throw his glove on it, wrapping around the net to give the North Stars a two-goal advantage.
Another rebound goal from Kenyon led to his replacement. Downs laid a solid shot on net from the left wing on the power play, kicking off the pads of the netminder and onto the blade of Buziak, who deposited into the back of the net for his fifth of the season.
The game could have gotten out of hand in the first if it wasn’t for Kenyon’s replacement, Khris Joyce, stepping in to make some tremendous saves. He was there for another Gorgi attempt, and made another kick save after Rory Davidson stopped up to find Logan Nachtegaele in the slot. Joyce finished with 33 saves in his relief effort. Overall the North Stars drilled La Ronge with 48 shots.
La Ronge got on the board with less than a second left in the first period, courtesy of Ryley McNeil. On a five-on-three penalty kill, Kotchorek came up big, stopping a quality chance from inside the slot before turning away a one-timer with another highlight reel save. However, a turnaround shot from McNeil beat the clock and the netminder to make it 3-1 heading into the middle frame.
Igor Leonenko extended his point streak to six games with a one-time crack from the point. Bryce Hall was there to tee him up, beating Joyce short side and under the glove to make it 4-1. The tally now gives him 31 on the year.
Gorgi put the game away with his second of the night, breaking in from deep in the La Ronge zone on the left wing. A big missed assignment allowed him to walk in all alone, waiting out Joyce before lifting a backhand shot past the sprawling netminder.
The power play unit had another successful night, converting three of eight opportunities. The North Stars received a ton of praise from their coach after the final buzzer.
“We have been a very difficult team to contain, we force other teams into taking penalties. There were so many positives tonight, it’s going to be fun to break this game down,” Hasselberg said.
The Battlefords now travel to Weyburn to play the Red Wings Friday before clashing with Notre Dame on Hockey Night in Saskatchewan.
