After splitting their first two games, it didn't appear the Battlefords North Stars would come back with more than two points from their weekend road trip, as they headed into the final period of their three-game in three-night span.
After a sluggish start for the North Stars, and having to kill six penalties while allowing 28 shots in just two periods against the Estevan Bruins, the North Stars trailed 3-1 going into the third period.
The North Stars scored four times in the third period against Estevan Sunday and returned home with four of a possible six points.
"That is what adversity does and that is what we addressed," said North Stars' head coach and general manager Kevin Hasselberg. "It really defines who you are and what character you have. For the kids to come out and play the way they did in the third period it looked like the team we had for the first 40 games of the season. There was enthusiasm, there was pride and there was excitement on the bench. Now that they have had a taste of what it feels like, we are hoping to carry that forward now into the upcoming games."
North Stars' leading scorer Blake Tatchell netted his 36th and 37th goals of the season to tie the game, then the 'Kid Line' of Ryne Keller, Tanner Quinn and Jared Samborski chipped in with the game-winning and insurance goals to seal the victory.
Quinn's fifth of the season was assisted by Travis Sparrow and Keller's sixth was assisted by Woody Klassen and Brody Luhning.
Klassen had three assists on the night while Jordan Ethier had a goal and an assist, and Brett Miller and Tim Rollins also earned assists.
Graham Hildebrand was busy making 37 saves for his 21st win of the season.
The North Stars moved to 35-12-0-2 and remain four points behind the Humboldt Broncos with Sunday's win. The North Stars' success on the road continued as well as they are 16-6-0-1 on the road this season and an impressive 19-2-0-1 against Sherwood Conference teams.
"We're happy with it," said Hasselberg after the road trip. "Not looking at standings, not looking at points or anything like that, you look at the culture and identity of our team and the adversity that we have been going through, and there was a lot of that. The team learned from each other and there was a lot that happened over the course of the weekend that is going to make us better moving forward."
Saturday in Wilcox, the Notre Dame Hounds and North Stars were locked in a defensive battle, but in was the North Stars scoring two first-period goals leading to the 2-1 win.
Tanner Schwab scored his 11th of the season from Keller and Rollins added his 13th of the season from Mitch Berg, which held up to be the game-winning goal.
Hildebrand was in net for the North Stars and made 21 saves for the win, while the lone Notre Dame goal came in the third period.
Friday in Weyburn, the Red Wings led 1-0 after the first period. In the second, Roger Tagoona scored his seventh of the season from Kyle Hall and Luhning. Less than a minute into the third period, Braeden Johnson put the North Stars in front with his 17th of the season from Luhning and Samborski.
The next shift, Jordon Hoffman scored for the Red Wings and, with less than three minutes remaining, Weyburn added another goal and earned the 3-2 victory.
Connor Creech made 23 saves for the North Stars while Weyburn's Mitch Kilgore stopped 31 shots for the win.
The North Stars begin the final month of the regular season at home against Estevan Friday in their third-last home game of the season. The team members are focused on their jobs heading in the final stretch and know they can't concern themselves with what the other teams are doing.
"With regards to Humboldt that is out of our control," said Hasselberg, since the two teams will not face each other again during the regular season. "We just want to make sure our game is where it needs to be heading into the playoffs and we have nine more games now to prepare ourselves for that."
The preparation continues, but without veteran forward Boyd Wakelin, who didn't play in any of the three games on the weekend due to an injury. According to Hasselberg it is an awkward injury that he hopes will see Wakelin back in the lineup in a week or two.
Hasselberg also mentioned some AAA Stars will likely continue to practice with the team when they are available, as their season winds down and the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoffs get started.
