The Battlefords Stars picked up three wins last week to extend their winning streak to six games.
In their game Thursday night, the Stars held on for a 3-2 win over the Blazers in Saskatoon.
Brandon Lesko opened the scoring for the Stars 4:03 into the first period. His fourth goal of the season beat Blazers goaltender Joel Grzybowski with assists from Layne Young and Derek Frater. About a minute later, Chad Grambo picked up his first goal of the season to put the Stars up 2-0.
The Stars extended their lead to three with 8:16 left in the opening period. Derek Frater scored his third goal of the year as the Stars led 3-0 heading into the intermission.
In the second, Shane Sherban got the Blazers within two with 9:11 to play in the frame. The Blazers cut the lead to one in the third period on a power-play goal from Nathaniel Wingerak with 1:17 to play, but the Blazers did not get any closer as the Stars left Saskatoon with a 3-2 win.
Stars goaltender Brett Pongracz made 17 saves to pick up his fourth win of the season. Grzybowski stopped 27 shots for the Blazers in the loss.
The Stars continued their strong play with a 4-3 win over the Moose Jaw Generals Saturday afternoon at the Civic Centre.
Moose Jaw got on the board first less than five minutes into the first. Off a faceoff in the Stars' zone, Trent Luby collected the puck, spun and fired through Pongracz's five hole to give the Generals a 1-0 lead.
Later in the first, the Stars responded with two goals 17 seconds apart. First, Kaleb Dahlgren finished off a great passing play with 7:17 to play. Kyle Salaway dug the puck out of the corner and passed to Kaelan Holt, who set up Dahlgren's second goal of the year with a behind-the-back pass.
Then, with 7:00 to go, Jared Hillis won a faceoff in the Generals' zone to Lesko, who snapped the puck past Moose Jaw goalie Colby Entz for his fifth of the campaign to put the Stars up 2-1.
In the second, the Stars extended their lead to two 4:08 into the period. On a two-on-one, Dahlgren lifted a saucer pass to Holt, who finished the play over Entz's glove for his second goal of the year.
Less than three minutes later, the Generals cut the lead to one with a shorthanded goal. Turner Ripplinger took a pass in front of the Stars' net and jammed the puck past Pongracz's left pad 6:55 into the frame to make it a 3-2 game.
With 1:08 left in the second, the Stars reclaimed their two-goal lead on the power play. After a scrambled draw in the Generals' zone, Layne Young found the puck and missed it on his first shot attempt. He quickly reclaimed the puck and snapped it past Entz who was out of position for his fourth goal of the season.
The Generals made it a one-goal game again on the power play with 13:14 left to play. Brayden Pachal's shot from the point hit the inside of the left post and crossed the goal line to make it a 4-3 game.
Pongracz took the Stars the rest of the way as he made 13 saves in the third period to help the Stars hang on for a 4-3 win. The Stars netminder made 38 saves for his fifth win of the year. Entz stopped 35 shots in a losing effort for Moose Jaw.
The two teams played again Sunday afternoon. The Stars used three first-period goals to cruise to a 4-1 win over the Generals.
Less than three minutes into the first, Holt scored his third goal of the season to put the Stars up 1-0. Salaway registered the lone assist on the goal.
Midway through the first, the Stars scored twice in less than a minute to extend their lead to three. First, Troy Gerein picked up his second goal of the season on the power play from Young and Salaway with 10:23 to go. Then, with 9:49 to play, Dawson Bacon got his second goal with an assist from Owen Lamb to make it 3-0 after one period.
In the second, Ripplinger picked up his second power-play goal of the weekend. His was partially stopped by Stars goalie Talen King, but the puck had enough power on it to cross the goal line.
Less than five minutes into the third, Young put the game out of reach. His fifth goal of the season from Keegan McBride and Lesko made it a 4-1 game with 15:54 to play.
King was solid in the third period for the Stars, stopping all six shots faced. He made 20 saves overall for his second win on the season. Entz made 32 saves in his second loss of the weekend.
The Stars (7-1-0-0) will attempt to extend their winning streak to seven against the Blazers Tuesday night at the Civic Centre. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
