The Battlefords North Stars stayed alive in the race for the Kramer Division title with a 5-1 win over the Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre Friday night.
The North Stars opened the scoring in the first on the power play. After Brandon Lauder was whistled for hooking, the North Stars capitalized on the ensuing faceoff. Cameron Blair won the draw at the left circle. Blake Young picked up the puck and fired a backhand shot underneath Klippers goaltender Evan Weninger's left pad.
Battlefords used a remarkably similar play to extend the lead to two midway through the period. Five seconds into a Kindersley penalty for too many men, Blair found the back of the net with a backhand goal of his own assisted by Young.
Kindersley cut the lead in half six minutes into the second period. After North Stars goaltender Michael Gudmandson gave up a rebound, Connor Garden tried a wrap around from the right post to the left. Garden beat Gudmandson to the left post to make it a 2-1 game.
The North Stars restored their two-goal lead 1:18 into the third period. Tanner Quinn stole the puck in front of the Klippers' net and cut across the front of the goal. Weninger dove across his crease to make the save, but Quinn slid the puck in to give the North Stars a 3-1 lead.
Battlefords made it a 4-1 game on a goal with 8:55 to play. Taylor Reich entered the zone with the puck on a two-on-one. He kept it and snapped the puck from the left wing over Weninger's glove.
The physical play between the teams reached a boiling point after the goal. With 8:08 remaining, there was a big scrum in front of the Kindersley goal. Many players paired off and grappled without fighting. Klippers forward Eli Jarvis had his visor knocked off during the commotion. As Battlefords defenceman Nick Fransoo skated off the ice, he pointed at the scoreboard with his stick as he taunted the Kindersley players on the ice. There were three penalties called on the play with Klippers defenceman Conner Veroba getting consecutive minors for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Things started to unravel for Kindersley as they took six penalties in the final seven minutes of the game. In another late scrum following an Austin Yano cross check, North Stars forward Jake McMillen was given a match penalty for head-butting a Kindersley player. The penalty came with an automatic suspension, causing McMillen to miss the game in Kindersley.
The North Stars added a late power-play goal to make it a 5-1 game. After Battlefords won the ensuing faceoff after the penalty was called, the North Stars passed the puck around to Regan Yew. His point shot beat Weninger to wrap up the scoring in the game.
Gudmandson stopped 24 shots while picking up his 19th win of the season. Weninger made 42 saves in his sixth loss of the season.
