The Battlefords North Stars (18-12-6-0) picked up a win, and a loss in their first two games of 2015 with a 2-1 win over the La Ronge Ice Wolves (14-20-2-2) Thursday, and a 3-0 loss in Melfort to the league leading Mustangs (25-9-3-4) Friday.
Thursday, Spencer Trembley made 29 saves, many of them on high-quality chances, to backstop his North Stars to victory.
It was the Ice Wolves getting on the board first, when their captain Adam Mograbhi stepped out of the penalty box, received a pass from Michael Cardinal and broke down the right wing before firing a wrist shot over the blocker of Trembley for his seventh of the year. Kyler Wilkinson got the second assist.
Nine and a half minutes later, Reed Delainey got the North Stars back in the game when he knocked home his own rebound on the power play. Connor Sych threw the puck towards the goal and Delainey was on the far side in position to knock the puck in the net. Brady O'Sullivan grabbed the other assist.
Sych was fresh off being named to the CJHL Top Prospects game, which takes place Jan. 20 in Oakville, Ont. He was the only SJHL player named to the game.
Less than two minutes later, the North Stars scored to gain the lead for good.
Brenden Heinrich made a beautiful sweep pass from behind the net out front to O'Sullivan who made no mistake, one-timing the puck past Ice Wolves goaltender Austin Rediron. Matthew Havens also assisted on the goal.
La Ronge had multiple chances to tie the game in the third, with three power plays, including two in the final minutes of the game, but they were unable to sustain much pressure in the North Stars zone and dropped a 2-1 decision.
Friday in Melfort was a different story.
Trembley played great once again, making 34 saves, but the offence was unable to gain traction en route to a 3-0 shutout loss.
The Mustangs got on the board just over six minutes into the game, when Dakota Boutin scored his first of two goals on the night. Nick Hermary and Luc Lemire grabbed assists.
Melfort right winger Travis Mayan picked up two assists in the game, increasing his lead in the SJHL scoring race. He now has 59 points in just 41 games.
The North Stars power play struggled once again, as they finished the game 0-for-5 on the man advantage.
The SJHL trade deadline was Saturday evening; the only transaction the North Stars made was sending captain Ryne Keller to the Winkler Flyers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for future considerations.
The North Stars return to action tonight when they host the Humboldt Broncos (14-19-3-0) at 7:30 p.m.
