The Battlefords AAA Stars closed out their home pre-season schedule with a 3-1 win over the Saskatoon Contacts Saturday afternoon at the Civic Centre.
Brandon Lesko and Layne Young each had a goal and an assist in the Stars' win.
Both teams traded chances in a scoreless first period. The Stars' best chance came on a tic-tac-toe passing play. Josh Atkinson made a cross-ice pass to Connor Manegre who found Braydon Buziak in the slot left of the Contacts' net. Saskatoon goaltender Issac LaBelle slid over to make the stop.
Also in the first, Garret Pilon and Carson Albrecht entered the Stars' zone on a two on one for the Contacts. Pilon lifted the pass off the ice for Albrecht, but Stars goaltender Talen King dove across his crease to make the save.
The Contacts appeared to open the scoring on the first shift of the second period. King popped the puck up in the air with his stick while making the save. Pilon knocked the puck out of the air and past King, but the goal was waved off due to a high stick.
Saskatoon got one that counted on the power play in the second. With Dawson Bacon in the box for cross checking, Albrecht snapped a shot from the faceoff circle past King's glove to put the Contacts up 1-0 4:46 into the middle frame.
The Stars swapped goalies midway through the second period. King made 14 saves for the Stars before being relieved by Shaun Fleming.
Young opened the scoring for the Stars 9:54 into the second. Derek Frater's drop pass was picked up by Lesko. LaBelle stopped Lesko's shot, but the rebound found Young's stick. He snapped the puck into the net to tie the game at one.
In the third, the Contacts almost broke the deadlock on a fluke play. Stars defenceman Traye Tkatchuk tried to clear the zone, but the puck hit Contacts forward Dawson Holt's skate. Fleming was forced to make a nice glove save to keep the puck out of his net.
The Stars took the lead with 6:19 to play in the third period. Kenzie Arnold's shot went off the post and in to beat LaBelle and put Battlefords up 2-1.
Lesko iced the game for the Stars with 4:02 left in the game. Stationed alone in front of the net, he received a pass from Young. Lesko had time, picked his spot and deflected his shot off the crossbar and in to make it a 3-1 game.
There was cause for concern at the end of the game for the Stars. With the Contacts pressing for a goal with less than a minute to play, Fleming dove out of his net to try and cover a loose puck. He missed and was slow to get up. After the referee blew the play dead, Fleming skated off the ice holding his wrist and was looked at by a trainer. King came back into the game for the final seconds.
Fleming did pick up the win, stopping all 14 shots faced in approximately 30 minutes of play. LaBelle made 32 stops in a losing effort.
The Stars (3-1) wrap up their pre-season schedule Tuesday night in Saskatoon against the Blazers (4-0). Battlefords will attempt to avenge a 5-3 loss from earlier in the pre-season.
The SMAAAHL regular season begins Friday night at the Civic Centre for the Stars. They welcome the Regina Pat Canadians to town for a 7:30 p.m. start. The two teams play again Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Civic Centre.
