Fish were caught, prizes were won and the North Stars were back in action Friday night at the Civic Centre. The black and white were looking to sweep the season series against the Terriers and extend their winning streak to five games.
A 13-day break divided the last time these teams clashed, a tilt that saw the Battlefords shutout Yorkton in a 3-0 game.
The Terriers controlled play for the majority of the first 40 minutes, but the sleeping giant in the North Stars offence woke up for a big third period, scoring three in a 3-2 game.
Yorkton wouldn’t be held off the score sheet in this one, taking a 1-0 advantage just three minutes into the opening frame. After the North Stars killed off a tripping penalty, Adam Santoro was able to feed a strong pass to Kailum Gervais in the slot, who tipped his sixth of the season through the legs of Tyler Fuhr.
Fuhr kept it a 1-0 deficit with less than a minute left in the opening 20 minutes, going post-to-post to absolutely rob the Terriers of a sure goal.
The save highlighted Fuhr’s solid night in net, stopping 20 of 22 shots in the victory.
Shots were 12-7 Yorkton headed into the middle stanza.
Back-to-back North Star power plays in the second period wasn’t enough to beat Jakob Severson, who came up clutch for the Terriers on several chances to tie the game up at one. The Battlefords were able to set up and move the puck efficiently, but were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. First it was Jake McMillen looking for Dustin Gorgi on the doorstep, but Gorgi couldn’t find the handle on the puck, then Igor Leonenko tried to beat the Yorkton netminder from the right hash mark but Severson was equal to the task.
The ice began to tilt in favour of the North Stars, who outshot the Terriers 9-2 moving into the third period.
Just over a minute into the final frame, rookie Layne Young deposited his 22nd goal of the year, breathing life into the Civic Centre. Coby Downs released the initial shot that bounced off the pads of Severson and onto the stick of Young, who slid the puck through the wickets to deadlock the game at one. With the goal, Young now has an eight-game point streak.
“It was a matter of where he scored that goal and where all three goals were scored, and that was just going to the dirty areas,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game, “Yorkton is primed for the playoffs and nothing was going to come easy tonight.”
The third period carried on with Logan Nachtegaele dropping the gloves with Santoro, landing a big left-hand before falling to the ice with his counterpart.
The tilt seemed to energize the North Stars, who took a 2-1 advantage shortly after. Leonenko found Downs wide open in the slot, who snapped a wrist shot under the glove of Severson with 11 minutes remaining. The mark was Downs’ 26th of the campaign. Young registered the second assist.
The black and white ran away with it in the third when Reed Delainey squeaked a shot through the body armour of Severson. Gorgi and Jake McMillen collaborated on his 13th of the season.
“They said the right thing between the second and third. again, our captain is doing his part,” Hasselberg said of the Delainey goal, “They centred their focus on one key thing and that’s what got our bench going … Leadership really carried us in the third period.”
Corwin Stevely made it a one-goal game with under a minute to play in the third period, scoring his second of the season in the slot. The mark wouldn’t be enough as the North Stars held on to their 3-2 lead.
The Battlefords now hold a record of 5-1-0-1 when the team is off for five or more days.
With the win, the North Stars also hold on to a three-point lead over Melfort and Weyburn, who both won last night, for first place in the SJHL.
“It’s hard not to look at that stuff when it matters. But, what we have to do is focus on the things we have control of. That’s how we play … Tonight maybe we were a little rusty after a long break in the first and second period, but you can see what happens when these guys channel their focus on the right things.” Coach Hasselberg said.
The black and white now travel to Humboldt Tuesday before a long four-game homestand.
News-Optimist THREE STARS
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Layne Young (1 G, 1 A)
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Coby Downs (1 G, 1 A)
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Reed Delainey (GWG)
