A trip to Shellbrook brought a familiar result for the Battlefords North Stars Saturday night.
The North Stars, who played in front of a packed house as part of the annual Hockey Day in Saskatchewan event, improved to 35-7-1-0 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League play after a 5-3 win over the Notre Dame Hounds.
“I felt like both teams competed hard,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said. “It was more of a special teams type battle with a lot of penalties called, so it was tough to get certain guys in the lineup as a result of that.”
“I felt like we battled pretty hard, we did a really good job on the penalty kill and we moved the puck really well on the power play. It was a fun game to be a part of and we were fortunate enough to come out on the positive side of things.”
The North Stars were led on offence by Ben Allen, as he scored a pair of goals and also had an assist on Connor Sych’s power-play marker in the second period.
“One of his goals came on a penalty shot in the second, and the timing of it was fantastic at that point in the game,” Bedford said. “He drove hard to the net and got behind their defence, which he’s so good at, and they had to haul him down.
“He was buzzing around the net all night long in the offensive zone, and when he does that he’s a very dangerous player.”
Logan Nachtegaele and Owen Lamb also scored for the North Stars in the win.
Joel Grzybowski made 24 saves in the contest, but was pulled from the game for a couple of minutes after giving up a pair of goals early in the first period.
“I think you when take a goalie out like that early in the game, he starts to get pretty angry with himself, the team and the coach,” Bedford said. “Sometimes when that happens, you completely forget about the two goals that just went.
“I thought that was the best thing for him to clear his head and get refocussed. He didn’t hesitate when I asked him if he wanted to go back in the game, and I was really proud with he bounced back.”
Hounds rookie forward Chaz Smedsrud was a one-man scoring machine in the loss as he earned his first career SJHL hat-trick.
Ben Duperreault had two assists to improve his league-best point total to 60 on the season, while Benjamin Patt made an impressive 52 saves in the loss.
The North Stars had a busy day in Shellbrook prior to the game, as Bedford was joined by Jared Blaquiere, Reed Delainey, Kendall Fransoo, Zach Nedelec, Nachtegaele and Sych to run a youth skills camp alongside Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Trottier.
“It was a honour to be a part of it,” Bedford said. “It wasn’t too long ago that these guys were in the position of the young kids where they looked up to the junior players.
“The atmosphere was electric and I hope that I can get a chance to be involved in an event like this again.”
The North Stars will be back in action Tuesday night when they host the La Ronge Ice Wolves at 7 p.m.
That game will mark the return of leading scorer Layne Young to the lineup following a two-game suspension for a boarding penalty he took on Jan. 13 against Weyburn.
