After trouncing their opponents through three preseason games, the Battlefords Midget Stars kept the hot start going into the regular season.
The season started on the weekend with a pair of games against the Regina Pat Canadians Saturday and Sunday at the Civic Centre. The teams tied game one and the Stars took the victory in game two by a score of 4-2.
Saturday's game was evenly matched from start to finish with both teams being led by strong goaltending and defensive play. Rylan Toth stopped 34 shots for the Stars while Logan Flodell made 27 saves for Regina.
Graham Gove registered the first goal of the 2013-14 season for the Stars 10 minutes into the game. As he did all preseason, Joshua Bly found Gove open in the slot and Gove let a wrist shot go past Flodell.
Brayden Buziak got the other assist on the goal, which was the only one of the period.
Regina was in trouble early in the second when they took two straight penalties, giving the Stars a two-man advantage. The Canadians were able to kill both infractions off and scored soon after. Matthew Smishek beat Toth with a wrist shot just short of four minutes into the second period. A little more than a minute later, Michael Eksra stretched to keep the puck in at the Stars blue line and beat Toth with a shot through traffic to make it 2-1 Regina.
The Stars battled back after losing the momentum and eventually tied the game. Spencer Bast rushed the puck up the ice and took a hard wrist shot that Flodell couldn't handle. The rebound sat in the slot for Michael Korol, who followed the play well and tapped the puck into the open net.
The third period went by quietly on the offensive front, with nothing but penalties hitting the score sheet.
The overtime period didn't produce a winner as each team was evenly matched and the game ended in a tie.
Ryan Rewerts got the call in net for game two and performed just as well as Toth. It appears early the Stars have a two-headed monster in the crease this season with the two goalies.
The Stars were outshot 34-25, but made the most of their chances to end the weekend with a 1-0-1 record.
Goals for the Stars came from Brandon Lesko, Gove and Corbin Schmidt, who scored twice. Bly had two assists for the home team and Korol and Lesko had one apiece.
The Stars are back in action Wednesday in Saskatoon with the next home game Oct. 9.
