Given how tight the regular season series was between the two teams, it was expected the Battlefords North Stars and Weyburn Red Wings would have a spirited battle in their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League quarter-final series.
Instead, the battle between the two sides lasted only five days.
The North Stars completed a clean sweep of the best-of-seven affair Tuesday night at Crescent Point Place in Weyburn as they picked up a 4-3 win to advance to the SJHL semifinal round for the second straight season.
“It’s a bit of a surprise to win in four games, but I thought that our guys worked hard and sacrificed to get in that playoff mentality here right away,” North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said.
“We’re really focused here on another tough set of games coming up, but to beat Weyburn here right away is a testament to the guys and what they bring on a nightly basis.”
After scoring eight goals in back-to-back wins over the Red Wings, the North Stars found themselves in a much closer battle Tuesday that was more indicative of how their meetings went earlier in the year.
“We definitely got their best effort tonight and that was something we expected with their season on the line,” North Stars forward Troy Gerein said.
“Some of our guys weren’t quite ready off of the start, but we had a good talk in the intermission and we woke up during the second and third periods.”
One of the key points in the game came midway through the second period when Bedford pulled starting goaltender Joel Grzybowski for Taryn Kotchorek after the Red Wings took a 3-2 lead.
“I felt like we were hanging Joel out to dry a little bit there and the scoring chances Weyburn was getting were of the highest quality,” Bedford said. “I wanted to change the pace of the game, which we did, and I elected to stick with Taryn after the tide turned in our favour.
“That was definitely a wake up moment for a lot of the guys,” Gerein said. “When you see your starting goaltender get pulled, you want to get the lead back and not go to overtime as anything can happen in the playoffs.”
Connor Sych would tie the game up for the North Stars on a point shot late in the second period, while Ben Allen scored his sixth goal of the series early in the final frame to put the visitors out in front for good.
The Red Wings pressed hard but were unable to tie things up, as their last scoring chances came in the final seconds when a diving Gerein blocked Donovan Lumb’s point shot.
“Your job in the final minute is to make sure that you aren’t scored on when they have the extra attacker out there,” Gerein said. “I was doing everything that I could to block that last shot and it worked out for me.
“Troy’s probably a bit underrated here in this league but I’m sure he doesn’t care about that,” Bedford said. “He’s a pain to play against and he’s a pleasure to coach.”
Gerein and Keaton Holinaty also scored for the North Stars, while Coby Downs had two assists to give him nine for the series and move into first place in the SJHL playoff scoring race.
Kotchorek stopped all 12 shots he faced in a relief role for Grzybowski, who made 13 saves.
Mike Eskra, Carson Rose and Ben Hiltz all scored for the Red Wings, as they failed to make it out of the quarter-final round for the third straight season.
“Our goals for this season were set higher than this so it stings quite a bit to have our year end this early,” Red Wings head coach Wes Rudy said.
“With that said, you want to go out with pride and class, and my hats are off to the guys for how they played tonight. I thought we took it to Battleford in this one, and that’s something that we didn’t see for a full 60 minutes in the other three games.”
Jake MacLennan made 28 saves for the Red Wings in the loss.
With their quarter-final series in the record books, the North Stars are now playing a waiting game to see who they will play in the semifinals next week.
“Right now we’re scheduled to start next Friday but we’ll see how things play out elsewhere and what the league wants to do,” Bedford said.
“Whoever it is that we play and whenever it is that we start, we’ll be ready.”
The other three SJHL quarter-final series resumed Tuesday and sees three teams holding 3-0 series leads.
In Wilcox, Kristian St. Onge had a goal and an assist for the Flin Flon Bombers in their 3-1 win over the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Hounds were once again without the services of SJHL rookie of the year winner Adam Dawe, who hasn’t played since game four of their first round series win over the Melfort Mustangs.
Jason Miller had two goals and Jake Fletcher had three assists for the Estevan Bruins as they picked up a 5-4 win at home over the Yorkton Terriers, who had a three-point night from forward Dakota Odgers in the loss.
Finally in Nipawin, Josh Bly had four assists, while Eric Bolden and Brandan Arnold both had three-point evenings in the Hawks 4-2 win over the Humboldt Broncos.
The Bruins and Bombers can both wrap up their series Wednesday night while the Hawks will be back in action Thursday.
