The Battlefords North Stars didn't look the least bit rusty Friday night at home against the Humboldt Broncos.
Despite a layoff of several days since the SJHL Showcase the previous week in Warman, the North Stars looked sharp in a dominating 5-0 shellacking of their Finning Division rivals to further solidify their hold on first place.
They followed it up with a hard-earned 4-3 victory that needed a shootout goal by Jake McMillen before it was settled.
North Stars 5 Humboldt 0
The North Stars got a quick lead at the Civic Centre Friday thanks to shorthanded goal in the first period. Jake McMillen scored his eighth of the season from Reed Delainey, who was back in the lineup after missing the last seven games due to injury.
Midway through the second, North Stars got a power play goal from Igor Leonenko with Baxter Kanter and Jake McMillen assisting to make it 2-0. That would be all the scoring for the first period. Shots were 8-4 North Stars through one.
At the 3:45 mark of the second, the North Stars extended the lead to 3-0 on a goal by Layne Young, his sixth of the year, from Connor Sych.
Later, a major scrap broke out at the 6:18 mark between Kendall Fransoo and Trevor Posch, and after the referees separated the two players they both got five minutes for fighting and game misconducts.
The North Stars might have made it 4-0 had Coby Downs not been hauled down by Anthony Kapelke right in front of the Humboldt net. But the North Stars' power play opportunity that followed fizzled out and the score remained 3-0 through two. Shots were overwhelmingly for the North Stars in the period at 14-3, for a two-period total 22-7.
With 7:07 to go in the third, the North Stars made it 4-0 on Tanner Nagel's first SJHL goal with Troy Gerein assisting. Then a power play goal from Delainey with 6:32 left rounded out the scoring at 5-0. Young and Cody Spagrud notched the assists.
Ryan Rewerts got the shutout for the North Stars, but in truth he had an easy night. Final shots on goal were 31 for the North Stars and only 15 for the Broncos.
The North Stars also had a successful power play as they went 2 for 6 on the night. Game stars were Delainey (a three-point night), Young and Rewerts.
North Stars 4 Kindersley 3 (SO)
The North Stars did not come flying out of the gate against their arch rivals the Kindersley Klippers Saturday night, but did get the first goal just past the midway point of period one. After a tripping penalty to Landon Gross, it was a power play marker by Igor Leonenko from McMillen and Delainey at 10:14 that made it 1-0.
A long shot from the point somehow made it past Ryan Rewerts about three minutes later to tie it at 1-1. Carson Pickett was credited with the goal.
The North Stars had a chance on goal late in the period, but failed to score, and then tempers flared as fights broke out around goaltender Matt Zentner. Shots on goal favoured Kindersley 9-8 during the period.
In the second, with the North Stars' Baxter Kanter in the box for roughing as a result of the melee at the end of the first period, Jake McMillen dipsy-doodled past the Kindersley defender to beat Zentner for an unassisted shorthanded goal to make it 2-1.
With Kendall Fransoo off for cross checking, there was a scramble in front of the North Stars net and the North Stars simply couldn't clear the puck out of the crease. Finally, it was Landon Gross who fired it in, with Austin Calladine assisting on the 2-2 goal.
That would be all the scoring through two. Shots on goal after two periods favoured the North Stars 24-20.
There were chances back and forth in the third period, including a shorthanded breakaway opportunity by Dexter Bricker on Rewerts that he couldn't convert. Later, a shot by Bricker hit the crossbar and Connor Jensen was called right away for interference. During that penalty kill, Reed Delainey went on a shorthanded breakaway that missed.
Soon after, Kindersley took the lead with 9:30 left on a goal by Cole Young from Branden Scheidl, with Rewerts sprawled on the ice.
With 2:47 left, a slashing call went to Daniel Lange and that put the North Stars back on the power play late in the game. This time, they made no mistake. With 1:31 remaining, Dustin Gorgi fired the puck past Zentner to tie the game at 3-3, with Downs and Fransoo assisting.
That set up overtime at the Civic Centre. With 51 seconds left in that session the Klippers were called for too many men to put the North Stars on the power play one last time, but despite chances, time ran out and the shootout began.
The shootout went only three rounds before Jake McMillen scored the only goal for the North Stars. After Rewerts made his final stop on the Klippers, the North Stars stormed the ice to mob the goaltender after a 4-3 shootout win over the Klippers.
The three stars were McMillen, Gorgi and Leonenko. Shots on goal favoured the North Stars 35-30 on the night. The North Stars also had another solid night on the power play going 2 for 8.
With the win, the North Stars moved to 10-2 on the season and remained undefeated on home ice. A busy week was ahead for the North Stars after this game, with games on the road Tuesday and Wednesday against Melville and Yorkton before returning to the Civic Centre Friday versus Nipawin.
