Last November, the Estevan Bruins scored four unanswered goals in the final six minutes of the third period to pick up a wild 8-6 win over the Battlefords North Stars at the Civic Centre.
On Monday morning, the North Stars made a big comeback of their own against the Bruins as they erased a 5-2 deficit early in the second period to come away with an 8-6 victory of their own at the Hamm Latrace Arena during the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Showcase event.
“We weren’t very good in the first half of the game,” North Stars head coach and general manager Brandon Heck said. “We were just watching them as they beat us to loose pucks and we weren’t doing a good job of making passes to one another.
“Once we changed things up, we did a much better job of creating scoring chances and we controlled the game in their end over the last 30 minutes.”
The second half of the game belonged to the North Stars, as they trailed 6-5 heading into the third period and then potted home three goals in the final frame.
“It really all started with just making simple plays,” Heck said. “We knew that we wanted to be patient and not get into a situation where we were trading chances with them.
“We wanted to wear them down and once the guys stuck to the process, everything took care of itself.”
Captain Layne Young had yet another dominating performance as his three goals and an assist gives him a league best 15 points in the first five games of the regular season.
Forward Connor McIntosh had his best showing to date as a member of the North Stars as he dished out three assists.
Keith Anderson and MacGregor Sinclair had a goal and an assist in the win, while Blake Fennig and Troy Gerein also found the back of the net.
Johnny Witzke and Zach Goberis had a goal and two assists each for the Bruins in the loss, which saw Isaac Embree turn in a three-assist performance.
Kaelan Holt had a goal and an assist each, while Raihan Kheraj, Michael McChesney and Mark Edmands also scored.
In goal, Taryn Kotchorek turned aside 26 shots for the North Stars and Maxik Sidelink made 16 saves for the Bruins.
The North Stars are now off until Tuesday, Oct. 3, when they’ll host the Humboldt Broncos in a 7:30 p.m. contest at the Civic Centre.
“We’ll need to make sure that we ramp up our intensity during the time off, as we found out the hard way what happens when you don’t come out of the gates strong against Estevan on Saturday night,” Heck said.
“We’ll also be focussing on the defensive side of things over the next few days, as we have some parts of our game we need to fix up there.”
Monday SJHL Recap
For the first time since Dec. 3, 2016, the La Ronge Ice Wolves have won a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game.
In the biggest result of Monday’s slate of games in Saskatoon, Austin Bill scored the only goal in a seven-round shootout as the Ice Wolves snapped a 32 game losing streak with a 2-1 triumph over the Melville Millionaires.
The Ice Wolves last win came against the Millionaires in a 3-2 contest that took place in Melville.
Connor Smith had the lone goal for the Ice Wolves in regulation, while goaltender Luke Lush made 33 saves.
Ryan Warner replied for the Millionaires, who received a 35 save performance from Colby Entz.
In other action at the Showcase, Jordan Funk had a goal and two assists for the Kindersley Klippers in their 5-3 win over the Weyburn Red Wings.
Tanner Thompson had a goal and an assist in the victory, while Austin Nault, Noah Turanski and Will Van Der Sloot rounded out the scoring for the Klippers.
Derick Smith led the Red Wings offence with a goal and an assist each, with the team’s other goals coming from Ben Hiltz and Jeremy Velazquez.
Jack Flaman made an immediate impact for the Notre Dame Hounds in his return to the team after two seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants, as he scored the only goal in a shootout to give his team a 2-1 victory over the Flin Flon Bombers.
Curtis Wiebe tied the game in the third period with his fourth goal of the season, while Jacob Standen made 36 saves to earn the win for the Hounds.
Brendan Newton also made 36 for the Bombers, with Ethan Daniels scoring the team’s only goal.
SJHL Players of the Week
Layne Young and Taryn Kotchorek were rewarded for their efforts to start the season Monday as the Battlefords North Stars teammates were named the SJHL’s forward and goaltender of the week for the period spanning from Sept. 15-24.
Young had four goals and seven assists during the first four games of the season to earn the accolades, while Kotchorek started the year with a 2-0-1 record and 1.31 goals against average after back-to-back shutouts over the Kindersley Klippers.
Loch Morrison of the Melfort Mustangs was named defenceman of the week after scoring a goal and setting up three others after joining the team following three years in the Western Hockey League.
The rookie of the week honours went to Chrystopher Collin, who scored six goals in his first four games for the Flin Flon Bombers.
CJHL Top 20 Rankings
The Melfort Mustangs and Battlefords North Stars were both recognized by the Canadian Junior Hockey League on Monday morning as they were ranked third and 19th respectively in the latest CJHL Top 20 team rankings.
The North Stars entered the season ranked in fourth nationally and were the only team from the SJHL to make the pre-season poll that came out on Sept. 7.
The British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees and the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Fort McMurray Oil Barons are ranked ahead of the Mustangs, while the AJHL’s Okotoks Oilers and the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Neepawa Natives round out the top five.
Tuesday SJHL Schedule (All games in Saskatoon)
- La Ronge vs. Estevan – 12:45 p.m.
- Humboldt vs. Yorkton – 3 p.m.
- Melfort vs. Notre Dame – 5:45 p.m.
Standings
Olympic Buildings Division
1. Battlefords North Stars – 9 points (4-0-1)
2. Notre Dame Hounds – 8 points (3-0-1-1)
3. Humboldt Broncos – 6 points (3-2)
4. Kindersley Klippers – 5 points (2-2-1)
Sherwood Division
1. Melfort Mustangs – 8 points (4-0)
2. Flin Flon Bombers – 6 points (2-1-0-2)
3. Nipawin Hawks – 5 points (2-1-1)
4. La Ronge Ice Wolves – 2 points (1-3)
Viterra Division
1. Estevan Bruins – 6 points (3-2)
2. Weyburn Red Wings – 5 points (2-1-1)
3. Melville Millionaires – 3 points (1-3-0-1)
4. Yorkton Terriers – 3 points (1-2-1)
Scoring Race
1. Layne Young (Battlefords) – 15 points (7 goals and 8 assists)
2. Zach Goberis (Estevan) – 13 points (4 goals and 9 assists)
3. Michael McChesney (Estevan) – 8 points (5 goals and 3 assists)
4. Colby Brandt (Notre Dame) – 8 points (2 goals and 6 assists)
5. Isaac Embree (Estevan) – 7 points (3 goals and 4 assists)
6. Brett Harasymuk (Nipawin) – 7 points (1 goal and 6 assists)
Goals Against Average Leaders
1. Jack Ryan (Notre Dame) – 1.00 (1-0-0)
2. Jacob Standen (Notre Dame) – 1.66 (2-0-1-1)
3. Jake Anthony (Nipawin) – 1.94 (2-0-0)
4. Brendan Newton (Flin Flon) – 1.94 (2-1-0-2)
5. Evan Plotnik (Melfort) – 1.98 (4-0-0)
