Coming off an offensive outbreak, the North Stars travelled to Estevan to take their turn against the Bruins for the third time this year.
In a tilt that featured nine of the top 20 scorers in the SJHL, five from the Battlefords, four for Estevan, it was the North Stars who walked away with their third straight win and second of the road trip, 4-2.
Despite only seven shots in the opening frame, the Bruins would find themselves with a 1-0 lead courtesy of Braden Oleksyn, whose deflection in the slot extended his scoring streak to six games.
Reed Delainey inched the North Stars back into the tilt after deflecting a pass off of Charles Manley and into the twine. The mark came only three minutes into the second period.
Five undisciplined penalties from the Estevan Bruins set the North Stars up on a five on three for a full three minutes.
Dustin Gorgi capitalized on the opportunity, chipping one into the open cage after a shot trickled through the pads of Bruins goaltender Tyler Fuhr. The tally gives him 10 on the young season. Reed Delainey and Connor Sych registered the assists.
The Battlefords had a perfect record of 10-0 when leading after 40 minutes, Coby Downs did his best to make it 11. After a crisp pass from Layne Young, the California native sniped a wrist shot past Fuhr to make it 3-1.
The two-goal advantage was short lived. Zach Douglas took advantage of traffic in front of goalie Ryan Rewerts and cut the lead in half three minutes later.
That was as close as Estevan would get; Rewerts would shut the door the rest of the way stopping 20 of 22 shots.
After the game coach Kevin Hasselberg said the Bruins may not get the most pucks on net, but they utilize their chances. “They may only have 15 shots on you but they have a chance to score on 10 of those.” He also said that the Stars did a great job of shutting down their top line, who were a perfect 4/4 on the penalty kill.
Layne Young added an empty netter late in the third to put the game away.
The Battlefords now have a complete stranglehold over the Finning division, earning their seventeenth win in 22 games.
They travel to Notre Dame tomorrow for an interdivision bout against the 10-8 Hounds.
News-Optimist THREE STARS:
1) Reed Delainey - 1 G 1 A
2) Connor Sych - 1 A
3) Ryan Rewerts - 21 of 23 SVs, 2 GA
