In their previous four meetings this season, it's taken either an overtime or a shootout to break the deadlock between the Battlefords North Stars and Humboldt Broncos.
That was the case once again at the Civic Centre Friday, as Brad Girard scored in the fourth round of the shootout and Taryn Kotchorek turned aside Conner Lukan seconds later to give the North Stars a 2-1 victory and improve their record to 5-0 against their divisional foes during the campaign.
"I can't really explain why that is happening between us all the time," Kotchorek said. "We keep getting the wins though, so will take it.
"I thought we played well defensively and we didn't allow Humboldt to have a lot of odd-man rushes. I think that was the difference in the end."
Kotchorek's glove hand was red-hot all night long as he made 26 saves over the course of 65 minutes of action, but it was his right leg that was the difference maker in the skills competition as he stretched out to deny Lukan and end the game.
"He came in and faked a shot so I bit a little early on that, but I was able to come over and make the save on him as he went to the backhand," Kotchorek said.
Girard's game-winner came just prior to his teammate's heroics as he snuck as wrist shot by Broncos netminder Jacob Wassermann.
"I bobbled the puck a little bit and the guys were yelling at me to shoot, so I just let it fly," Girard said.
"Both teams are pretty similiar with their speed and skill, which leads to the close games between us that the fans have seen all year. I think we've come to expect that no matter what's happening between us."
Keith Anderson had the lone regulation goal for the North Stars in the third period, which saw Layne Young and MacGregor Sinclair earn assists.
Humboldt's lone marker came in the second period when Brayden Camrud sniped a shot by Kotchorek.
Kaleb Dahlgren and Logan Schatz had assists in the loss, while Wasserman turned aside 28 shots on goal.
With the win, the North Stars improved their record to 40-12-2-0 and are five points back of the league-leading Nipawin Hawks for the top seed in the playoffs.
The North Stars also have a game in hand over Nipawin, who are just two points away from clinching the regular season crown.
Meanwhile, the Melfort Mustangs moved into a tie on points with the North Stars thanks to a 5-4 overtime win in Nipawin Friday, but they only have two games left on their schedule.
As for the Broncos, who have a 37-17-3-3 record, they are already locked into the fifth spot in the standings and are set to play the Mustangs in the quarter-finals starting on Friday, March 16.
Next up for the North Stars is a trip to Humboldt Saturday for their final regular season meeting with the Broncos.
They will then travel to Kindersley Tuesday to play the Klippers, in a game that has been moved from its original location in Unity, before returning to the Civic Centre to take on the Klippers in their regular season home finale Thursday.
The North Stars will wrap up their regular season slate next Friday in Nipawin.
