The Civic Centre had a party-like atmosphere - again - Friday night.
Last Monday, the New Year's Eve Centennial event got the party started. On Friday, the Battlefords North Stars kept it going, as they filled the Weyburn Red Wings net and ushered in 2013 with a convincing 5-1 victory.
The North Stars then went to Nipawin and crashed the Hawks' party with a 2-1 win, sweeping the two weekend games. The Nipawin game was the first of back-to-back games that the North Stars had scheduled with the Hawks.
The Friday game was the first for the North Stars after a lengthy holiday break that began Dec. 21 following a 6-0 defeat to the Humboldt Broncos.
It was also the first time the North Stars faced Weyburn after the resignation/ousting of the Red Wings' longtime head coach Dwight McMillan over the break.
The last time the North Stars met Weyburn was Dec. 15 - the 1-0 shootout win with Casey Parker in net. This time, it was veteran Connor Creech in goal and he helped keep the Wings off the board for much of the first half of the game.
There was no scoring through the first, as things got off to a slow start overall with the North Stars getting five shots and the Red Wings four.
Play picked up noticeably in the second period, and finally Brody Luhning got things rolling at the 3:42 mark from Travis Marit and Blake Young, as the North Stars surrounded Weyburn goalie Jean-Philippe Boucher and Luhning fired the puck into the net.
The North Stars seemed to gain a lot of confidence from that goal, as they wound up filling the Weyburn net the rest of the period. Ben Greenaway scored at the 6:08 mark with Ryne Keller assisting to make it 2-0, and then Austin Evans scored at the 8:03 mark from Jake McMillen and Luke McColgan.
It was McColgan's goal from Evans and McMillen at the 13:15 mark that finally drove Boucher out of the Weyburn net. He was pulled, and Nate Ferris took over for the Red Wings the rest of the game.
Lane Harbor broke the shutout with a goal from Carter Struthers and Sam Williams shortly after to make it 4-1 North Stars heading to the third. In the third, Creech slammed the door in the North Stars' net while Tanner Quinn added one more to the North Stars total midway through the frame, with Marit getting his second assist on the night.
All in all it was a convincing 5-1 North Stars drubbing of the Red Wings. Shots on goal were even, at 23-23 apiece, but in reality the final score could have been far worse for Weyburn as the North Stars missed several more opportunities including hitting the goalpost, that could have made the score 7-1 or even 8-1. Creech was solid in net, stopping 22 shots for the win.
The North Stars were right back at it the next night to face their rivals the Nipawin Hawks, who they continue to fight for position in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Bauer Conference. As fans have come to expect this season, the game was yet another tight battle between the two clubs.
There was no scoring in the first period, but the North Stars broke through in the second with a power play marker. With the Hawks' Artsiom Kalashnikov in to the box for roughing, Luhning scored with Brandon Long getting the assist at the 8:59 mark.
In the third, the North Stars made it 2-0 early on as Quinn scored from Greenaway and Luhning at the 14 second mark.
Garret Lockeridge brought the Hawks back to within one at 2-1 at the 8:05 mark with Jesse Bernard and Grant Jensen assisting, but that would be all she wrote on the scoreboard.
Overall Nipawin outshot the North Stars 39-34 on the night but Creech came through again in net, stopping 38 of the 39 shots fired his way for two back-to-back solid outings for the North Stars.
The two wins give the North Stars a 19-14-1-1 record for 40 points, just one point behind third-place Nipawin.
The North Stars were scheduled to be back in action at the Civic Centre Tuesday night for the second of the home-and-home against Nipawin.
