Before puck drop, Connor Sych, Reed Delainey and Layne Young were all named to the selection camp for the World Junior A Canada West team.
The selection is a tremendous honour for players on a tremendous team, as they showed Wednesday night at the Civic Centre.
The start may have not been what the North Stars wanted, but the ending sure was, coming back to defeat second place Melfort 9-6.
Before the clock ticked past the 19-minute mark, a cross-crease feed from Teal Sobkowicz hit a tied up Craig Leverton, who just managed to get his stick on the puck and past Ryan Rewerts. The goal was the first shot on net of the night.
Two minutes later the North Stars answered back. Layne Young found Igor Leonenko all alone on the right hash mark. Goaltender Richard Palmer couldn’t move post-to-post fast enough to stop the one-timer from the Belarus native, 1-1.
The tally was bittersweet for the North Stars. They scored on a four-minute, five-on-three power play as Connor Sych, the leading scorer for defencemen in the SJHL, took a nasty high-stick to the mouth causing the removal of his front chicklets. Sych was given a ride to the hospital as soon as the injury took place, no other news has been reported.
After a 25-minute delay, due to a broken door on Melfort’s bench, the game was finally able to resume.
It began with three straight goals from the Mustangs.
Leading scorer in the SJHL, Travis Mayan, found Dakota Boutin on the doorstep, who slotted it through the legs of Rewerts to make it 2-1.
In the middle frame it was ex-Battlefords forward Rylan Freed who made a difference. In his first game back to the Civic Centre, Freed walked through two North Stars, making the defence in front of Rewerts collapse. This allowed Freed to exhibit his patience, gliding to the right of the goaltender before sliding the puck under his pads and into the back of the net.
The mark would chase Rewerts from the game for the second time in three starts.
Taryn Kotchorek made the relief appearance and was tested early, coming up with a big shoulder save on a two-on-one shorthanded break.
The Mustangs soon got to Kotchorek, continuing the goal train while Boutin scored his second of the night just north of the left face-off dot, making it 4-1 Mustangs.
Coby Downs stopped the bleeding with five minutes left in the second on the power play. Busting down the left wing side, he faked a pass to the slot, making the defender drop to one knee before quickly cutting towards the net, jamming the puck past Palmer to cut the lead in half, 4-2.
Leonenko followed suit with his second of the tilt, streaking down the right wing and slicing to the net to launch a shot into the twine. Watching the game, you could feel the momentum begin to shift sides. The ice was tilting and the fan support was building.
Dustin Gorgi then corralled a centring pass that he took to the front of the crease. A backhand finally did the trick after a couple of hacks at the puck. The goal was his 12th of the season and tied it at four a piece.
In the last 20 minutes of the game Bryce Hall took over. Palmer couldn’t find his snapshot just one minute into a power play opportunity, giving the North Stars their first lead of the night, 5-4.
The Mustangs fought back to tie the game after Mayan stamped his mark on the tilt, notching his 26th of the campaign past Kotchorek from the right hash mark.
Bryce Hall scored his second of the game after taking a pass from Baxter Kanter, circling around the right face off dot and wristing a snapshot underneath the glove of Palmer.
Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after 60 sixty minutes was through that he is a streaky goal scorer, but when he’s on, he’s on.
Tonight was certainly one of those nights after he handed the North Stars a 6-5 lead.
From there, the Battlefords wouldn’t look back.
Downs registered his second goal of the game and fourth point of the night with seven minutes left in the third, beating the Melfort netminder five-hole.
Leonenko added insult to injury, throwing away any chances Melfort had in coming back with a hat trick tally, notching the fifth power play mark of the game for the North Stars. He yet again found himself all alone at the right hash mark before firing the puck into the twine. Making it 8-6 Battlefords.
Jake McMillen later added an empty netter.
The win comes just two days after being swept by one of the worst teams in the SJHL. The North Stars have trailed in their last three, but have showed an uncanny ability to come back and defy the odds throughout the campaign. Games like the one Wednesday is what makes a team great and the effort truly resembles the skill set of the first-place North Stars.
After suffering on the power play in Flin Flon, going 2/17, the Battlefords more than doubled their goal production last night, scoring five times on 10 attempts, showing why the unit is ranked third in Saskatchewan. Hasselberg said that his special teams would get back on track and they sure did at the Civic Centre in front of hundreds of passionate fans.
“Our offence is not a concern, we are taking it to the bank. We have to do better defensively and that’s what we’ll be working on,” the head coach said after the game.
The penalty kill went 0-2.
On deck is a trip to Humboldt (7-15-3-1) and an interdivision game against natural rival Kindersley (13-9-0-1).
News-Optimist THREE STARS
• Coby Downs (2 G, 2 A)
• Igor Leonenko (3 G)
• Jake McMillen (1 G, 2 A)
