Another strong start Monday night in Estevan has the Battlefords North Stars one step closer towards making their first trip to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League final since 2006.
The North Stars scored three times in the first period at Affinity Place and withstood a comeback bid from the host Bruins on their way a 5-2 win and now hold a 3-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
“It was a bit of a weird game,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said. “We had a couple of sequences where we had four or five good shifts and followed that up with two or three bad ones.
“It didn’t feel like a playoff game that’s for sure. It felt more like a meaningless regular season game, and that made it tough to watch at times.”
While the Bruins clawed back to within a goal early in the final frame, the North Stars would pull ahead thanks to a power play marker from Keaton Holinaty and an empty-net goal from Conor Jensen.
“When we find a way to win it sometimes come from our talent, but most of the time it comes from our heart and our character, and that’s what happened tonight,” Bedford said.
“I’m really happy with the group that we have here and I have all the confidence in the world that we can win on any given night.”
For the second straight contest, the North Stars chased Bruins starting netminder Nathan Alalouf from the game after he allowed three goals on 11 shots.
“I think the key to that is we are getting prime scoring chances,” Bedford said. “Everyone’s moving their feet and all five guys are touching the puck, which can really hard to try and forecheck.”
Curtis Meger finished out the game for the Bruins and made 23 saves.
While Ben Allen was held off the scoresheet, the other two members of the North Stars top line were impressive on offence Monday.
After winning the SJHL’s player of the week earlier in the day, Layne Young scored twice in the first period while Coby Downs had three assists.
The pair continue to lead the league in playoff scoring as Downs has 16 points in seven games while Young is two points back.
Allen remains the playoff goal-scoring leader with seven lamp-lighters, but he is now tied with Estevan’s Jason Miller.
“All three guys are really smart and they just feed off each other,” Bedford said.
“With what they can do offensively, they are a fun line to watch as a fan, but as a coach you know that they can go out there and have a solid defensive shift when you need them to. They set a good example for the rest of the team and they keep getting better and better.”
Troy Gerein had the other goal for the North Stars, while Taryn Kotchorek made 22 saves to improve to 6-0 for the post-season.
The Bruins were led on offence by Matt McNeil as he scored a goal and had an assist on Miller’s third period marker.
Both teams will be in action again at Affinity Place Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
If the Bruins can stay alive with a win, the fifth game in the series will be held at the Civic Centre Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The other SJHL semifinal contest will resume Tuesday in Flin Flon as the Bombers will play host to the Nipawin Hawks.
The Hawks currently hold a 2-0 advantage in that series.
