The Battlefords North Stars' third period comeback attempt fell short as they were edged 4-3 by the Kindersley Klippers Thursday night at the Civic Centre.
Trailing 4-1, the North Stars scored two goals within 16 seconds late in the third period, but were unable to find the tying goal with their goalie pulled.
It was a sluggish start to the game for the North Stars as they shook off the rust from a nine-day layoff. They did show some spark while killing penalties in the first period. While shorthanded, Jackson Bond got behind the Kindersley defence and into the Klippers' zone. When he stopped and tried a toe-drag move, the defencemen caught up and knocked the puck off his stick.
Later in the first, with the North Stars on the power play, Michael Statchuk put a shot on net that Klippers goaltender Evan Weninger stopped. Ryne Keller and Matthew Saharchuk were on the doorstep for the rebound, but were unable to put the puck past Weninger.
After a strong start by the North Stars in the second period, the Klippers got the game's first goal less than five minutes into the frame. With traffic in front of the net, Klippers captain Shaun MacPherson's shot was deflected over North Stars goaltender Spencer Tremblay's pad by Devin Case and into the net.
Later in the second, the Klippers used a pretty passing play to make it a 2-0 game. Stefen Seel carried the puck into the North Stars' zone and made a drop pass to Carter Sawicki, who then found Landon Gross streaking to the net on the other side of the rink. Gross took the pass, cut across the face of the goal and backhanded the puck past Tremblay for the goal.
Tensions started to boil between the North Stars and Klippers at the end of the second period. Just as time expired, Gross took a run at North Stars defenceman Kendall Fransoo. Both players grabbed each other and started talking until Brenden Heinrich knocked Gross to the ice. After the dust settled, Heinrich was given a cross-checking penalty, while Fransoo earned a 10-minute misconduct.
Less than five minutes into the third, the Klippers made it a 3-0 with a shorthanded marker. MacPherson forced a turnover at the Klippers' blue line and skated away on a breakaway. He took a slash as he got to the net, but was still able to slide the puck through the pads of Tremblay.
The rough stuff continued midway through less than seven minutes into the third. Following a big hit from North Stars forward Adam Smith, Conner Veroba skated over and grabbed him to push him against the glass by the Kindersley bench. Kindersley's Ty Lindberg came off the bench and grabbed Smith from behind. Baxter Kanter came over to help Smith and took out Lindberg. Once the referees broke up the scrum, Kanter, Lindberg and Smith all received double minors for roughing. Additionally, Lindberg was given a game misconduct while Smith received a 10-minute misconduct.
On the ensuing power play for the Klippers, Kindersley appeared to make it a 4-0 game. However, the referees waved off a goal due to a high stick making contact with the puck before it got past Tremblay. The North Stars killed off the double minor.
The North Stars got on the board with 8:19 left to play. On a delayed penalty, Jordan Townsend picked up the puck on the side boards, skated to the centre of the ice and snapped it over Weninger's shoulder to make it a 3-1 game. It was Townsend's third goal of the season.
About a minute later, the Klippers stole the momentum back. On a two-on-one rush, Graham Lanigan kept the puck and snapped it past Tremblay for the eventual game-winning goal.
The North Stars made a game of it late in the third. With 3:12 to play, Jake Erickson's point shot was redirected by Nick Fountain through Weninger's leg for Fountain's fourth goal of the year. Before Fountain's goal was announced, Matthew Havens dug the puck out of the corner and passed to Reed Delainey in front of the net. Delainey lifted the puck over Weninger's glove for his fifth goal of the year, cutting the Klippers' lead to one.
Battlefords kept the pressure up, but were unable to find the tying goal before time expired.
Tremblay stopped 32 shots in the loss for the North Stars. Weninger made 27 saves for the Klippers.
The loss dropped the North Stars (8-3-3-0) to third in the Kramer Division, four points behind the first-place Klippers.
The North Stars are in action Saturday night when they take on the Notre Dame Hounds. Puck drop at the Civic Centre is 7:30 p.m.
