On Tuesday night the AAA Battlefords Stars took on the second place Prince Albert Mintos. The last time these two faced off it was the Mintos dominating on home ice in a 7-2 game.
The Battlefords persevered on this occasion, never looking like a team out-matched, out-played or one that lost by a five-goal deficit in the previous matchup.
They certainly had their chances to get on the scoreboard first with three power play opportunities before the game was 10 minutes old.
Ethan Rheaume went off for boarding in the Stars offensive zone, but the Battlefords couldn’t capitalize, managing just two shots.
The second man advantage came from a Wyatt Arndt roughing after the whistle call. The Stars moved the puck more efficiently in the Mintos zone this time around, keeping the defence off balance and forcing themselves into the heart of the Prince Albert slot. It was capped off with a shot just off the post, trying to go short side on Derek Hucul.
Although it wasn’t pretty, the third time was the charm. Donavon Beatty corralled a pass from rookie Brandon Griffiths at the half-wall. The defenceman took a soft wrister through traffic that found the five-hole of Hucul, who had no chance of seeing the puck. 1-0 Stars.
The Mintos had a two-man advantage of their own, but the Battlefords provided a fantastic job of clogging the shooting lanes, laying their body out to block shots, ensuring themselves a one-goal lead heading into the middle frame.
In the second period, the Mintos scored on a carbon copy shot of the Beatty opening mark. An Arndt wrister from the point was snapped home through the legs of the defence and under the blocker of Lance Alm to tie the game at one.
A rebound goal later gave Prince Albert two unanswered in the second stanza. Braden Isbister got his hands on the puck and an open cage after a sprawling Alm was recovering from a blocked shot in front of his crease. Riley Sawchuk had the initial blast that kicked off the pants of a Stars defenceman. 2-1 Mintos.
Prince Albert brought the pressure in the final frame, the Stars would bend, but they would not break.
Stopping an onslaught of Mintos attack and a power play opportunity, Alm had an outstanding final 20 minutes anchoring the defence. The netminder played a big part in keeping this one close and holding onto a perfect 4/4 penalty kill.
With 07.3 seconds left, the net empty and a 6 on 4 power play chance, the Stars would tie the game. A centring pass off the stick of Jordan Mish from behind the net somehow found the tape of Tanner Brewster in the slot through the pile of Mintos bodies. Brewster made no mistake with the opportunity, sliding it five hole to send the game to overtime.
Five minutes of extra time solved nothing as the tilt went to the ever anticipated shootout.
Alm capped off his 26-save performance by stopping Sawchuk, Keegan Tiringer and Brandt Bertoia on the breakaway challenge. He stood tall in net all night long, covered his angles well and was a huge factor in the eventual 3-2 win.
Jayden Nachtegaele played the role of hero, busting down the left wing before going forehand, backhand, forehand to the far side of the crease, beating the left pad of Hucul.
A resilient game from a team that never gave up and, in the end, the scoreboard told the best story.
The Stars are on the road for their next three games, travelling to Beardy’s to take on the Blackhawks, then to Tisdale in a back-to-back series on the weekend.
