In their previous two meetings this year, it took overtime to decide the winner between the Battlefords North Stars and the Nipawin Hawks.
On Friday night at the Civic Centre, the visitors made sure that an extra frame of hockey wasn’t needed.
The league leading Hawks earned their fifth win in a row and extended their cushion over the North Stars in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League standings to seven points following a 4-1 victory over the defending champions.
“We have to give Nipawin credit as they are a hard-working team that stuck to their game plan, but we shot ourselves in the foot and had a couple of lapses,” North Stars assistant coach Boyd Wakelin said.
“We had a couple of bad line changes and a couple of bad turnover that led to their goals. If those things don’t happen, then maybe the game doesn’t get away from us like they did.”
After Jake Tremblay took advantage of a North Stars line change to score on a breakaway just 42 seconds into the game, the hosts bounced back nicely in the first period and tied the game at one on a Brad Girard power play marker.
However, after Logan Casavant scored a power play goal of his own later in the opening frame, the Hawks were in control of the game for the rest of the way.
“I thought the Battlefords took it to us quite a bit in the second half of the first period,” Hawks head coach and general manager Doug Johnson said.
“We kept battling, which was helped by some strong performances on the penalty kill, and we were fortunate enough to get a few bounces to take the lead back.”
While the visitor turned in a strong showing on the road, the North Stars’ result was a dramatic contrast from their previous performance Wednesday night when they went on the road and defeated the Melfort Mustangs by a score of 7-3.
“We just have to worry about ourselves and we can’t focus our energy into complaining about the officiating,” Wakelin said.
“Our guys need to start buying and play for the right reasons.”
After serving a three-game suspension for a gross misconduct penalty he received last Friday in Yorkton, Taryn Kotchorek made his return to the starting lineup and made 26 saves for the North Stars, who now have a 31-8-2-0 record.
Chad McCartney had a goal and an assist lead the way for the 33-5-3-2 Hawks, who last lost in regulation on Nov. 10 in a streak that has spanned 24 straight games.
“We’re coming to the rink every night prepared and focussed,” McCartney said. “We know that working hard is the key to our game plan and that’s been huge for our success.
“We had a strong finish to last season, but I think the group we have here this year has an even tighter bond than that team. We have more speed on our roster and we’re able to play a grittier style of game when we need to.”
Tyler Adams had the other goal for the Hawks, who received a 24-save performance from Declan Hobbs.
After playing the La Ronge Ice Wolves in a neutral site game Saturday in Spiritwood, the North Stars will begin an seven-game home stand at the Civic Centre Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against the Kindersley Klippers.
“It’s nice to be back home again for awhile,” Wakelin said. “It’s always fun to play here and I think we have the best home atmosphere in the SJHL, which we hope to use to our advantage.”
