The Battlefords Stars had two games back-to-back on the Valentines Day weekend against the Tisdale Trojans.
It was a rematch of last season's thrilling Midget AAA semifinal playoff series which the Stars won in five games last year, and came at a critical juncture as the Stars continued their push for a playoff position, entering weekend action in seventh place in the league, just behind Prince Albert.
Tisdale 3 Stars 0
Unfortunately, in the first game it was the Trojans who got off to the early 1-0 lead, due to a power play goal when Kenzie Arnold was called for slashing.
Kristopher Bzdel scored from Daven Smith and Josh McDougall just 1:28 in to give Tisdale the 1-0 advantage, and that would prove to be all the scoring in the first period. Shots were 14-8 Tisdale in the period.
With 4:23 left in the second the Trojans scored again. Colby Brandt moved in on Jake Taylor and scored, with Logan Foster and Erik Ehrmantraut the assists.
Not long after the Stars were called for hooking and with 2:46 to go in the period Colby Brandt scored his second of the game. Bzdel and Marshall Wilton assisted.
A late penalty to Jarett Gerlach for head contact put the Stars on the power play for a full four minutes, but time expired in the second period. The two-period shots total favored the Trojans 26-16.
The Trojans successfully killed off the remaining penalty to Gerlach to start the third period, and proceeded to shut down the Stars offence the rest of the game.
The final straw was a penalty to Luke Reid, two minutes for roughing, with 2:09 remaining on the clock. Tisdale prevailed 3-0; final shots favored the Trojans 35-23.
Tisdale 3 Stars 1
Lance Alm got the start in net for the Stars' for the second game Sunday afternoon at the Civic Centre.
At 17:04 of the first period, a penalty to Gerlach for charging resulted in a Battlefords Stars power play, and the Stars capitalized quickly. Tyson Meyers scored for the Stars with the assists from Jayden Nachtegaele and Luke Reid at 17:12, just eight seconds into the man advantage.
Shots on goal in the first favored the Stars 12-5.
Early in the second, Tisdale took advantage of a power play opportunity and tied it on Daven Smith's goal, Bzdel and Wilton the assists.
Tisdale then took the lead at 9:11 on a goal by Brandt from McDougall and Bzdel to make it 2-1.
The Stars briefly had a two man advantage for 25 seconds in the middle of the frame, with Smith off for hooking and then Kyle Sargent off for tripping at 12:05. But Tisdale successfully killed off the power play advantage.
The scoreboard stood at 2-1 Tisdale through two. Shots still favored the Battlefords 20-17.
Some good saves by Alm kept the Stars in it in the third period as the Trojans outshot the Stars in the frame.
With Alm pulled for an extra attacker Bzdel sealed it with 18 seconds left for a 3-1 final score for the Trojans. Final shots favored Tisdale 29-23.
Next up for the Stars is a home game this Thursday night against the PA Mintos.
