A ten game winning streak by the Battlefords North Stars has moved the club up to second place in the national Canadian Junior Hockey League rankings.
As of Oct. 28 the North Stars now are behind only the Brooks Bandits in the overall standings and have moved ahead of Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL.
The new rankings come after a very successful weekend for the North Stars against the La Ronge Ice Wolves, sweeping both games at the Civic Centre by 4-3 and 7-0 final scores. The wins keep the North Stars well ahead of the rest of the league with a record of 17-1.
North Stars 4 La Ronge 3 (Friday)
The Oct. 25 game between the North Stars and the Ice Wolves saw the North Stars take a 4-0 lead before the Ice Wolves roared back to make a game of it.
An early highlight was the goal by Hunter Partsch, in his first game with the North Stars, scored from Brett Gammer and Dylan McCabe to make it 1-0 at the 4:30 mark.
Rylan Nivon and Ryland McNinch added to the total to make it 3-0 through one, and then Brett Gammer scored shorthanded 22 seconds into period two to make it 4-0.
But La Ronge overwhelmed the North Stars the rest of the game, outshooting the North Stars 16-4 in the second period and 16-5 in the third.
Jake Gudjonson and Ben Manson on the power play cut the margin to 4-2 through two, and Zach Bannister made it 4-3 at the 3:37 mark of period 3.
But the North Stars held off the barrage of La Ronge shots the rest of the way and held on for their ninth straight victory.
Adam Dmyterko got the win, saving 35 of 38 shots. Steven Bacovsky stopped 20 of 24.
North Stars 7 La Ronge 0 (Saturday)
Unlike Friday night, the North Stars ran away with the Saturday contest at home, outshooting the Ice Wolves 39-32 and earning a shutout for Parker Rey.
The North Stars got goals from Matthew Fletcher, Austin Becker (his 11th) and Elijah Loon-Stewardson in the first period, from Brett Gammer and Kaden Boser in the second period, and two from Carson Reagan in the third period for the win.
Next up for the North Stars is a home contest against Nipawin on Tuesday night.
