The Battlefords North Stars couldn't capitalize on three point-blank chances Tuesday in Humboldt in the first period and things quickly snowballed out of control after that.
The North Stars trail the Humboldt Broncos 3-0 in the series after losing 7-1 Tuesday.
The Humboldt's Andrews started the scoring, as first it was Andrew Johnston then Andrew Herle, as they both scored off the rush and the Broncos led 2-0 going into the first intermission.
The North Stars looked as though they would press for a comeback early in the second, but as Matt Hrynkiw closed the door, Robbie Ciolfi scored to make it a 3-0 game. Ciolfi's playoff-leading 10th goal was scored just as the North Stars killed off a penalty.
After that goal, things got rough and not any better for the North Stars. Herle delivered a check to Blake Tatchell near the blue-line and Tatchell's teammate, Brody Luhning, took exception to the check. He went after Herle and earned five minutes for fighting, two for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct. As the two players went to the ice quickly, an unsuspecting Herle didn't earn any penalty minutes.
Ciolfi scored early into the seven-minute power play and then there was more rough stuff.
Klay Kachur hit Ciolfi hard into the end boards and Joey Davies went after Kachur. The two of them scrapped and at the same time, in a completely separate conflict, Robbie Newton and Jonathan Parisien dropped the gloves, as well. Kachur earned a game misconduct for the hit on Ciolfi, which was ruled a major for checking from behind, and a game misconduct for the second fight on the same stoppage although it was debatable as to which fight started first.
After the North Stars earned 17 penalty minutes and two game misconducts and the Broncos were given 12 minutes and one game misconduct on the play, the North Stars found themselves down five-on-three for a full five minutes.
Ryan Marshall and Josh Roach both scored on the extended power play to make it 5-0 at that point.
Before the period was out, Johnston drew a minor penalty and a game misconduct for checking from behind.
The chippyness continued in the third period and the team's traded goals. Roger Tagoona scored his second of the playoffs from Luhning and Braeden Johnson and Marshall added his second of the game.
After another fight in the third period involving Newton, this time mixing it up with Chase Wharton, the game ended and 110 penalty minutes were issued.
Connor Creech allowed seven goals on 45 shots while Matt Hrynkiw made 26 saves for his third win of the playoffs. Humboldt was 4/5 on the power play while the North Stars were 0/3.
The Broncos outscored the North Stars 16-5 in the two playoff games at the Elgar Peterson Arena this week and the North Stars haven't beat the Broncos since Nov. 5.
The North Stars will look to stave off elimination tonight, as game four is set for 7:30 p.m. at the North Battleford Civic Centre.
The North Stars fought off elimination three times against the Nipawin Hawks in the previous series and it all started on home ice in front of more that 2,000 fans.
Expect some lineup changes going into tonight's game.
