The North Stars head into Christmas break with a 5-3 victory over the Estevan Bruins Sunday.
Coming into the tilt coach Kevin Hasselberg was well aware of the talent the Bruins have outside of their leading scorer Darcy DeRoose.
"With Owen LeClare, Braden Oleskyn, Lynnden Pastachuk, Keegan Allison and the Duret brothers in the mix, our defence will have to be committed and positionally aware."
I'd argue here that the best defence is a good offence, and that's what was on display at the Civic Centre.
While the Battlefords did a fine job of shutting them down, it was Jake McMillen who led the way for the North Stars offence with a hat trick, he now sits at 25 goals on the campaign.
Troy Gerein got on the board in the first period with his first goal of 2015. He has been a spark plug as of late, hitting many posts, just not being able to find the net until tonight. Bryce Hall started the goal with a nice move around the Bruins defence, throwing a pass into the slot where Gerein was waiting. The forward took it on his backhand, transitioned to the forehand before snapping a wrist shot home.
Two of three of McMillen's tallies came on the power play, in which the North Stars went two of six on the game. He was in perfect position for both of them, cleaning up rebounds from both Nathan Alalouf and Tyler Fuh. It was a game where the Battlefords had to make the most of their power play opportunities, as Estevan's penalty kill unit is ranked eighth in the SJHL.
Baxter Kanter added an empty netter to give the North Stars their two-goal advantage late in the final frame.
The North Stars had the Bruins on their heels for most of the night, outshooting them 48-30.
Taryn Kotchorek had another solid night in net, stopping 27 of 30 shots and coming up with big saves when they needed it most.
The Battlefords head into the Christmas break first place in the Finning division and in the SJHL with 53 points.
They take on Kindersley New Years Eve.
