The North Stars travelled to Kindersley Saturday for their last regular season game as part of a home and home series. Friday, the Battlefords extended their winning streak to 10 games in a dominant 3-0 victory. The black and white came into the tilt looking for the season sweep and eight overall wins against the Klippers, all while holding onto some serious momentum heading into a long break before playoffs.
Tyler Fuhr came up big on several occasions, backstopping the North Stars to a 3-2 win. The Battlefords now finish with an outstanding record of 43-11-2-2 and 11 straight wins.
“If you reflect on one thing with this group, it’s that they're brothers,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game, “It’s such a tight knit group, I know it’s cliche, but this is a pretty special group of kids.”
A pair of early penalties set the Battlefords up with a five-on-three, but Nathan Hargrave was equal to the task in the opposing crease. The biggest chance to get on the board was a Dustin Gorgi opportunity midway through the frame. Braydon Buziak found number 19 camped on the far side of the crease, but it was Hargrave moving post-to-post to absolutely rob Gorgi of his 28th goal of the campaign.
The Klippers broke the tie with just over a minute left in the opening frame. Austin Calladine corralled a pass from Branden Scheidl before dancing through the defence of the North Stars on the left wing. Calladine sniped a shot over the glove of Fuhr, scoring his 26th of the year, hitting the top right shelf.
After 20 minutes of play the shots were 9-7 Kindersley.
Hargrave continued to rob the North Stars in the middle stanza. An efficient, puck-moving power play found the stick of Rory Davidson, who stared down the second wide open net of the game. Once again the Klippers netminder was there to deny the North Stars and Davidson of his seventh with a terrific blocker save.
Gorgi wouldn’t be denied the second time, getting the Battlefords on the board at the 10 minute mark. Gorgi battled through two Klipper defenders in the slot before golfing a shot into the back of the net and over the blocker of Hargrave. Connor Jensen and Jordan Townsend drew the assists.
Fuhr came up with a little magic of his own with five minutes left in the second period. Calladine was sprung for a breakaway, looking to slide the puck through the five hole of the North Stars netminder, but Fuhr was there to deny him with a big pad save.
The North Stars poured on the offence, outshooting the Klippers 17-4 in the middle frame.
Following in Gorgi’s footsteps, Davidson capitalized on his second scoring chance of the evening. After killing a penalty that was leftover from the second period, Davidson busted up the left wing on a two-on-one. Looking off his counterpart, Davidson was able to beat Hargrave on the far side and under the glove for his seventh goal of the year. 2-1 North Stars.
Baxter Kanter put the game to bed with nine minutes left in the final frame. After a hit to the head penalty to Jordan Wiest, the Battlefords headed to the power play. Connor Sych teed up a slap shot from the blue line, deflecting off the stick of Kanter and into the back of the net for his fifth of the year. Kendall Fransoo made the initial pass. Three unanswered goals gave the North Stars a 3-1 lead.
Calladine came back with his second goal of the tilt, catching the Battlefords on a bad change. The forward was sprung for a breakaway, finding the five-hole of Fuhr this time, cutting the deficit to one with four minutes left. The tally wasn’t enough as the black and white held on for the 3-2 win.
Owen Lamb and Jayden Nachtegaele also made their season debut for the North Stars, both coming from the AAA Stars and having a good game for themselves.
“Both contributed in the best way they could. I thought Owen worked hard along the walls and won a lot of battles with his strength. Jayden obviously drawing that penalty and made some great plays in the neutral zone … I thought it was a really great game for both of them.” Hasselberg said.
The two rookies will have to be ready as the North Stars got pretty banged up this week. Reed Delainey, Jake McMillen and Gorgi took a vicious hit Saturday night, but are all preparing for quick recoveries.
The North Stars now have a 13-day break as they wait out their first round opponent. They will face the lowest seed from the survivor series. The La Ronge Ice Wolves, Kindersley Klippers, Notre Dame Hounds and the Yorkton Terriers will be battling it out to make the final eight. One thing is for sure, the SJHL playoffs will be making it's way through the Battlefords this year.
News-Optimist THREE STARS
1.Baxter Kanter (1 G, 1 A, GWG)
2. Rory Davidson (1 G)
3. Austin Calladine (2 G)
