Perfection is what the North Stars were striving for as Humboldt travelled to the Civic Centre Friday night.
Throughout 2015, the Battlefords have held an excellent 4-0 record against the Broncos, outscoring them 20-4, while shutting them out on two of those occasions.
The North Stars made it five wins on the season in a 6-0 effort.
Just under two minutes into the first period, Layne Young, back from his tryout with team Canada West, walked around the right faceoff dot and took a strong snapshot. Dustin Gorgi was there to tip it home for his 16th of the season. Colby Downs chipped in with the second assist.
Igor Leonenko scored his first of three goals in the opening period after a deflection sprung the forward for a breakaway. The puck found the back of the net after a nice backhand-forehand move that fooled goaltender Ryan LaRochelle on the far side, making it 2-0 North Stars. Jordan Townsend and Jake McMillen registered the helpers.
Taryn Kotchorek had yet another solid night in net, grabbing his league-leading third shutout of the season, highlighted by a couple of post-to-post toe saves in the second period.
“I try my best not to [think about a shutout], I focus more on our team getting the win and I let that go through my head and repeat it to myself that we need the win.” Kotchorek said. “It does cross my mind but I don’t let it affect my game."
McMillen kicked off the scoring in the middle frame on the man-advantage. Cody Spagrud fed Leonenko with a one-time slap shot on the right wing. LaRochelle kicked out the rebound, onto the stick of number eight, who deposited it into the back of the net for his 21st goal of the season.
Leonenko buried his second of the game after cutting to the right slot from the hash mark, sending a rocket of a wrist shot past LaRochelle to make it 4-0.
“It’s not fair for any defencemen to go one-on-one against Igor, especially the young guys. He’s going to bury pucks.” Humboldt Broncos assistant coach Brayden Klimosko said after the game. “We have a rough time competing with the size and speed of the North Stars, it’s almost unfair.”
A high arching, hail mary pass from McMillen sprung Leonenko for his second breakaway goal of the game. He put another double move on the Broncos netminder before touching twine for his 24th of the season.
Young capped the scoring off with a power play goal from Logan Nachtegaele and Levi Kleiboer to catapult the North Stars to a 6-0 victory.
Kotchorek made 25 saves on the night, moving his record to 10-1-1-2 with a save percentage of .932. When up by a large margin, the North Stars netminder doesn’t let the score go to his head.
“I try not to treat it any different, but it definitely crosses my mind even more. I know the boys will come up big for me and play solid defence in games like these. Their focus is defence first when entering the third period in a game like tonight which helps out a lot.”
Sticking with the defence, head coach Kevin Hasselberg had some compliments for the way his team performed while they were shorthanded, killing three of three penalties.
“We are trying to adjust on the penalty kill and are in the process of making it better. I think the structure has been in place, the guys understand how we want to play it. We are going to run a speed penalty kill and that’s going to take some adjustments but I really like the way the guys responded tonight.”
Next up is a road trip against the (17-11-1-2) La Ronge Ice Wolves tomorrow. They will be travelling to Pinehouse for the neutral site game.
News-Optimist THREE STARS
1) Igor Leonenko (3 G, 1 )
2) Taryn Kotchorek - 25 SVs (SO)
3) Jake McMillen (1 G, 2 A)
