It was a physical game Tuesday night at the North Battleford Civic Centre between the North Stars and Kindersley Klippers.
The North Stars may have been smaller on the paper, but they were much bigger and better in what ultimately mattered - the scoreboard.
"We matched their physical play, but I thought we were really disciplined," said assistant coach Blair Atcheynum. "I thought we were pretty composed. In the long run it paid off."
The teams traded big hit after big hit in the first period, as Brett Blatz laid into a North Star early in game and Travis Sparrow responded with a crushing body check minutes later.
The physicality continued, as Ryne Keller nailed a Klipper along the boards, drawing the attention of the referee for a boarding call. The hit also drew the attention of Blatz who came to his teammate's aid. The 63? 200-pound defenceman pulled Keller, 58? 153 pounds, from the scrum and started a fight.
Once the fight was finished, Keller went to the dressing room to change from his stained number 19 jersey to number 10 and returned to the penalty box two minutes later to serve the remainder of his fighting and boarding penalties.
The North Stars continued to match Kindersley's physical play as well as controlling the puck and out chancing them in the first period. Brody Luhning hit the post twice on point shots on the power play, but after 20 minutes the score was still tied 0-0 despite the North Stars outshooting Kindersley 13-3.
Less than two minutes into the second period the North Stars broke the tie when Blake Tatchell made a beautiful drop pass in front of Braeden Johnson in the slot. Johnson made no mistake and put his 10th of the season by Justin McDonald.
Kindersley looked to respond the next shift, but Graham Hildebrand made his best save of the night, with the left pad going post-to-post.
Kindersley was able to break Hildebrand's shutout bid with five minutes remaining in the second period, as former Battlefords Midget Star, Colby Daniels, scored his second of the season with a nice shot on a two-on-one over Hildebrand.
The North Stars responded 37 seconds later on Johnson's second goal of the game. Tatchell fore-checked the Kindersley defender, forced a turnover and eventually centred the puck to Johnson for the one-timer. Tim Rollins also drew an assist, his second of three on the night.
After 40 minutes, the North Stars led 2-1 on the scoreboard and 32-10 in shots.
In the third, it appeared Kindersley's McDonald was finally tiring out and Keller took advantage getting some sweet redemption after the first period fight with his second goal of the season. Following some good work in the corner from linemate Tanner Quinn, Keller skated to the front on the net and rapped the puck under McDonald's pad.
"It felt really nice after I got in a fight in the first, said Keller, adding, "It felt pretty good to stick it to these guys I guess."
Later in the third, Tatchell took a high stick under the visor near his eye. He was looked at in the dressing room and cleaned up and would later return, in a big way, but it was expected he went to the hospital after the game for a few stitches.
Minutes after Tatchell was off getting repairs, David Haaf took a double minor penalty for roughing against Johnson after the whistle.
Johnson made him pay, as he snipped his hat trick goal after skating from the right wing hash marks and picking the top corner.
On another power play in the third period, Tatchell was back on the ice and ripped a shot off the crossbar and in from the top of the circle to put the home team up 5-1. Tatchell's 21st goal of the season was assisted by Johnson and Robbie Newton.
The gutsy effort by the North Stars led to a 5-1 win, as they were 2/8 on the power play and killed all four short-handed situations. Hildebrand made 17 saves for his ninth win of the season McDonald faced 46 shots.
After the game, first star Johnson explained how the North Stars were able to handle the Klippers' attempt to play physical.
"We approach every game the same, it doesn't matter who we are going to play," said Johnson. "We have set goals for each game and try to achieve them during the game and I think tonight we did that."
Johnson and Tatchell extended their point streaks, Tatchell has eight points in four games while Johnson's streak extend to three games, as he has five goals and three assists in that span.
"He (Johnson) played really well," said Atcheynum. "Probably his two best games of the season and now we are just working on getting more consistent and building on the positive stuff he has created, and good things are going to come from that."
The North Stars now prepare for four games in five nights on the road beginning Friday in Weyburn. The Battlefords look to continue with the momentum created after the recent stretch of home games. The North Stars are 8-1-0-1 in their last 10 home games and remain at the top of the SJHL standings with a 17-5-0-2 record.
"The boys have been playing really well as of late," said Keller. "As a group we have been contributing as best we can and we got the wins."
