Having been pushed to the limit all year long by the Humboldt Broncos and coming off of a narrow 2-1 shootout win over them at the Civic Centre Friday, the Battlefords North Stars made sure that wasn't the case Saturday.
In the final meeting of the regular season between the two sides, the North Stars outshot their division rivals by a 41-16 margin on their way to a 6-1 win at the Elgar Petersen Arena and gave them a 6-0 record over the Broncos during the 2017-18 campaign.
"The goal going in the weekend was to pick up four more points and we did just that," North Stars general manager and head coach Brandon Heck said.
"It was a complete performance from top to bottom for 60 minutes tonight and one of the best team performances we've had all year. It's really tough to single out any one guy because everyone played so well from top-to-bottom."
MacGregor Sinclair and Brad Girard both scored twice for the North Stars, who haven't lost to the Broncos in 19 straight regular season games in a streak that dates back to January 2015.
Captain Layne Young had three assists, while Cody Spagrud, Keith Anderson and Cole Johnson all dished out a pair of helpers.
Connor McIntosh and Connor Manegre also scored for the visitors, who recieved a 15-save performance from Taryn Kotchorek.
Bryce Fiske had the lone goal of the night for the Broncos in the loss, which saw Parker Tobin turn aside 35 shots on goal.
With the win, the North Stars improved their record to 41-12-2-0 and are now five points back of the Nipawin Hawks for first in the league standings.
The Hawks, who suffered a 9-2 loss to the Melfort Mustangs Saturday, have two games left in their regular season slate and needs just two points to clinch home ice advantage in the playoffs.
They will be back in action Tuesday in Nipawin against the La Ronge Ice Wolves before hosting the North Stars Friday.
Prior to their clash with the Hawks, the North Stars will visit the Kindersley Klippers Tuesday night before they welcome their biggest rivals to the Civic Centre Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
"I really like the way that the guys are buying in to what we want to see them do a on a regular basis," Heck said.
"We saw that tonight against Humboldt and I'm hoping to see that during these next few games before the playoffs begin."
