It was bound to come to an end sometime. The Battlefords North Stars winning streak ended after nearly a month span and nine wins.
The streak ends at the hands of the Flin Flon Bombers who moved to 12-6-0-2 and in third place behind the Bauer Conference leading North Stars, who are 15-5-0-1.
Connor Creech got the start in the North Stars' net, but the bigger news was the addition of two new faces to the lineup.
Roger Tagoona drew into the lineup for the first time since being acquired from Melville, while an old face returned to the Battlefords. Woody Klassen flew back to Saskatchewan Tuesday and later that night was in his first game after being released from the East Coast Hockey League.
Klassen, like several North Stars, looked a bit sluggish in the first period, but it didn't help there was a long injury delay at the nine-minute mark.
Andrew Allan went into the boards after trying to deliver a hit. He stayed down on the ice and needed medical attention. Allan was put on a spine board and loaded on a stretcher and taken to the hospital in the ambulance. It was last reported he was going for tests that night, but had full feeling in his limps despite pain in his neck and back. Also, Allan has had a history with concussions and it was believed that was what occurred Tuesday night at the Civic Centre.
When the teams came back from the dressing rooms they played out the first period, but the score didn't change and Flin Flon held a 1-0 lead going into the intermission.
In the second, the North Stars generated some momentum after killing two penalties early and pair of body checks by Klassen.
That momentum was short lived, as Flin Flon's Brett Penner scored his first of two goals in the period to suck the wind out of the North Stars' sails.
The score stayed the same until two and a half minutes remained in the third period. North Stars head coach Kevin Hasselberg called a timeout and pulled goaltender Creech for an extra attacker. Seconds after played resumed, the North Stars finally found a way to beat Andy Desautels. Brody Luhning's fourth of the season came on a point shot through traffic with Blake Tatchell drawing the assist.
The North Stars showed some desperation in the final minutes, but to no avail and the final score was 3-1.
Creech made 22 saves while Desautels stopped 29 shots. The North Stars spent too much time short handed, couldn't get shots through to the net and didn't crisply connect on passes, which appeared to be the difference.
Flin Flon was 2/6 on the power play while the North Stars were 0/3 with the man advantage.
"They were a determined hockey team," said Hasselberg, who liked the effort from his team on the night. "They played their system to a tee and keep us to the outside. We didn't generate a lot of scoring chances against them."
The North Stars will look to rebound and re-start a winning streak, as they have Yorkton on the schedule for Thursday and Melville Saturday.
