The Battlefords Stars clashed with the Notre Dame Argos for the second time in eight days, looking for the sweep and their eighth win of the month.
To say they played well would be an incredible understatement. The Stars completely controlled Sunday’s game from the opening whistle to the final buzzer, firing 57 shots on net in a 9-1 effort. 16 of 18 skaters recorded at least one point. The win capped off an incredible month, outscoring opponents in eight of ten games while climbing the SMAAAHL standings. The Stars sit in seventh, just one point back of Prince Albert for sixth place.
Jake Taylor did his part in between the pipes, coming up with big saves on numerous occasions. The rookie netminder stopped 22 of 23 shots for his seventh win of the campaign.
Less than a minute into the tilt Nayte Zip found himself all alone on the doorstep after a deflection caught the blade of his stick. He made no mistake on the first shot of the hockey game, depositing the puck over the glove of Riley Higdon for his fifth of the campaign.
Just 60 seconds later, Artem Chupin, who has been an absolute dominating force while scoring six goals against the Stars this year, was sprung on a breakaway. Eamon Milligan delivered the pass and Chupin delivered his 14th of the season, sniping a shot under the blocker of Taylor.
Before the game was five minutes old, the Stars restored their advantage. Fresh off his junior A debut with the Yorkton Terriers, Mason Mullaney buried his ninth of the season after corralling a pass from JC Dubecky.
The offensive onslaught continued with a crisp two-on-one play between Tyson Meyers and Jayden Nachtegaele. Jordan Mish chipped the puck up to Meyers in the neutral zone before making a tape-to-tape pass to Nachtegaele as the two crossed the blue line. Number 15 snapped a wrist shot that bounced off the chest of Higdon, Meyers was there to pick up the trash for his second of the year, giving the black and white a two-goal lead.
The Stars came out firing in the second period, applying the pressure in the Argos zone, leading to Tanner Brewster’s 16th of the season. Keegan McBride took the puck on the left half wall before finding the big forward in the slot, sliding it through the wickets of Higdon to give the Stars a 4-1 lead. Zip registered his second point of the night with the second helper.
Dayton Buchanan found the back of the net for the first time this season midway through the middle stanza. Buchanan found the puck after a scramble play in front of the net allowed him to beat Higdon over the glove to give the Stars a 5-1 advantage. Kenzie Arnold and Logan Spence collaborated on the goal.
Owen Lamb buried his 11th of the season on the man advantage to make it 6-1 late in the second period. After the Argos were called for goaltender interference, the Stars took exception as Keelan Saworski found Lamb in the slot, one-timing a strong shot deep in hostile territory.
The Stars kept pouring it on in the third after a nice no-look feed from Nachtegaele found Mish in front of the net, depositing his ninth of the year. The tally all but ended the game, making it 7-1 for the Battlefords on their 44th shot of the game. The Stars later scored their eighth and ninth of the tilt after Arnold hacked away at the puck in the crease, tallying his fifth this season and second of the day. Meyers more than doubled his offensive numbers in 2015-16 with his second of the game and third of the year after taking a pass from Dawson Bacon.
On deck for the Stars is a big test against the second place team. A two-day road trip in Moose Jaw next weekend against the Generals.
