The same day Graham Hildebrand learned he was the goaltender of the week he turned in his third Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League shutout and second at the Civic Centre against the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
"He has certainly earned it," said head coach Kevin Hasselberg of Hildebrand's shutout. "The team in front of him has bought into the structure that we want to play as far as the structure in our own zone, but he had to make some big saves.
The North Stars were the better team creating more scoring chances in the first period, but La Ronge pushed back in the second and it was Hildebrand's turn to slam the door shut as his counterpart Alex Rajotte did in the first period.
Hildebrand's best series of saves came against the Ice Wolves' leading scoring Aaron Enns with six minutes gone in the second. Enns deflected a point shot. Hildebrand stretched out his right leg to stop it then made the save on the rebound. Seconds later he made a glove stop on Enns who skated out of the corner.
"It really comes down to our own game and our own preparation," said Hasselberg. "We weren't entirely happy with our game (Tuesday) night. We had enough quality scoring chances, but we didn't manage the puck very well and they forced us into a lot of turnover situations. It was a very frustrating game, but at the end the kids just persevered and stayed the course and we ended up scoring a goal and it happened to be the only one we needed."
The lone goal of the game was scored with eight minutes left in the third period on a broken play. Blake Tatchell skated through the neutral zone and tried to dangle around the Ice Wolves' defender. He was tied up, but with one hand on his stick was able to flip a pass over a stick to Braeden Johnson. Johnson got just enough to get the pass back into the slot to Tim Rollins. Rollins fanned on his shot, but the puck slid untouched to the blocker-side corner, hit the post and crossed the line by a few inches.
Good teams find ways to win and Rollins' ninth of the season had just enough juice to give the North Stars their sixth straight win. Rollins' goal extended his point streak to four games, while Johnson's streak expanded to six games and Tatchell's point streak stretched to seven straight games. Throughout the previous six games, the Rollins, Tatchell, Johnson line has combined for 12 of the team's 21 goals and recorded 15 assists.
The North Stars lead the SJHL with a 12-4-0-1 record and according to Hasselberg, the attitude in the dressing room is enjoyable and resulting in the players being ready and willing to work hard and continue to improve as a team.
The North Stars will face the 8-7-0-1 Humboldt Broncos Friday at the Civic Centre marking the end of their five game home stretch. The North Stars are 1-0 against Humboldt this season, as they won 5-4 in Humboldt earlier this month.
The North Stars will be on the road Oct. 30, for their first of three games in Flin Flon this season.
