A big week has put the Battlefords North Stars back on top in the Olympic Buildings Division.
After a 4-3 shootout win at home Tuesday over the Kindersley Klippers and a 3-2 triumph Friday over the Notre Dame Hounds at the Civic Centre, the defending Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions earned their third straight win over a divisional foe Saturday as they edged the host Humboldt Broncos 3-2 in a shootout at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
“It’s nicer when you win in regulation, so you don’t give the opponent extra points,” North Stars head coach and general manager Brandon Heck joked.
“With that said, whenever you can come away with three wins over your biggest rivals, you’re going to be pretty happy when it’s all said and done.”
The North Stars, who have won their last six games and have an 18-3-0-1 record, now have a three-point cushion over the Hounds for the Olympic Buildings Division lead following their 2-1 loss to the Klippers Saturday in Kindersley.
It was another gutsy effort for the North Stars away from home, as they played the game with 11 forwards and just five blueliners, with one of those players being 16-year-old forward Ryland McNinch from Beardy’s Blackhawks in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
In addition to being without Keith Anderson, Dakota Huebner, Ryan Gil, Matthew Fletcher, Ryan Rosenberg, Brad Girard and Joel Grzybowski for the second straight night, the North Stars were also unable to dress forwards Connor McIntosh and Troy Gerein.
McIntosh was injured Friday after making a hit on Hounds forward David Lenzin in the second period, while Gerein was handed a two-game suspension for what was deemed a “high-hit” on Jared Hamm in the third period that was called as an interference penalty at the time.
“With the shortened lineup, we talked a lot before the game about defending well and making good plays in the defensive zone,” Heck said. “We needed to get pucks out and not give our opponents second chances.”
After 65 minutes of action solved nothing, both teams headed to a shootout where Logan Schatz gave the Broncos the lead in the third round.
Chaseton Braid kept the North Stars alive with a goal on the very next shot, which led to blueliner Cody Spagrud finding the back of the net in the following round to give his team the win.
“In all honesty, I thought Cody deserved to shoot in that situation given how well he played,” Heck said. “He was an absolute animal out there tonight and I thought everyone on the defence did really well.
“I was also impressed by the clutchness that Chaseton showed before that. It’s not an easy situation where you have to score to keep that game going, and he made no mistakes.”
Layne Young and MacGregor Sinclair had a goal and an assist each in regulation, while Taryn Kotchorek made 31 saves for his 50th career win.
The Broncos, who are mired in a five-game losing skid and are in third place in the Olympic Buildings Division with a 14-9-3-1 mark, were led on offence by a two-assist night from Kaleb Dahlgren.
Graysen Cameron and Derek Patter scored for the hosts, who received a 31-save performance from Regina Pats goaltending prospect Jacob Wasserman.
The North Stars will return to the Civic Centre Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. for their first meeting of the season with the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
The Ice Wolves, who are coming off a 9-2 defeat against the Nipawin Hawks Saturday and have lost their last five games, have a 5-17-0-2 record and are 10 points back of the Melville Millionaires for the 10th and final playoff spot in the SJHL.
