Through 40 minutes of play Tuesday night, it looked like La Ronge Ice Wolves were going to pull off a massive upset to end their 13-game losing streak.
The Battlefords North Stars had other ideas.
Thanks to four unanswered goals in the third period, the North Stars came away with a 5-2 win over the Ice Wolves at the Civic Centre and won their third straight Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game.
“I thought we had pucks going to the net, but we could have done a little bit of a better job in the first two periods in all three zones,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said. “The guys stuck to the game plan though, and we had a strong finish.
“We need to do a better job of capitalizing on our opportunities though, especially in the slot area. If we do that, I think we can score a lot more goals.”
The third period charge was started by Jared Blaquiere, as he scored his first goal as a North Star against his old team.
“It’s nice to get that monkey off of the back and get that goal in my new home rink,” Blaquiere said.
“We had a slow start and we weren’t using our speed at first, but when you are able to get 60 shots on goal, your bound to get a few my back of the net.”
Connor Logan scored twice in the final frame while Coby Downs had the go-ahead goal near the six-minute mark of the period.
Downs also had an assist on Ben Allen’s second period marker.
Taryn Kotchorek made 21 saves to become the first goalie in the SJHL to win 20 games this season.
Derek Patter and Curtis Peck both scored for the Ice Wolves, who now have a league worst record of 6-32-1-4.
“I felt like we played well in the first two periods and we were able to dictate the pace of the play,” Ice Wolves head coach and general manager Evan Vossen said.
“In the third period, we had a couple of bad bounces and when you give those to a team like Battlefords, it will cost you.”
Luke Lush was sublime in goal for the Ice Wolves, as he made 55 saves in the defeat.
The North Stars will look to improve upon their league best 36-7-1-0 mark Saturday, as they’ll host the Melville Millionaires at the Civic Centre.
They will then pay a visit to the Nipawin Hawks Sunday.
