Eight different members of the Battlefords Stars scored as they trounced the Beardy's Blackhawks 9-2 Thursday night at the Civic Centre. The Stars broke the game open in the second period, scoring five goals in the frame.
The Stars added a new colour to their uniforms as the players wore pink laces and wrapped their sticks in pink tape in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Stars manager Shaun Robinson said the players came up with the idea on their own and paid for the pink accessories themselves.
At the start of the first period, both teams came out and threw their bodies around the ice in a fast, tight-checking opening eight minutes. The physical play eventually cost the Blackhawks when Traie Walls took a four-minute penalty for head contact. About a minute later, Chase Daniels was penalized for cross-checking to give the Stars a five-on-three advantage.
Shortly after Beardy's killed off Daniels' penalty, the Stars opened the game's scoring near the end of Walls' penalty. Dawson Bacon fired a shot on net that was stopped by Blackhawks goaltender David Thiel. Kyle Salaway pounced on the rebound and whacked the puck through Thiel's five hole with 7:24 left in the frame.
Less than 30 seconds later, Beardy's took another penalty. The Stars scored their second power-play goal of the period with 5:22 remaining. Thiel recovered the puck behind the net after the Stars dumped it into the zone, but his clearing attempt went off a player. Lesko found the puck and snapped it into the open net for a 2-0 lead.
Near the end of the first period, Layne Young had a chance to put the Stars up three before the intermission. He broke into the Blackhawks' zone on a breakaway, but was slashed by Daniels to break up the chance. Daniels was given a penalty on the play with 54 seconds left.
The penalty to Daniels expired, but Tyler Baier extended the Stars' lead shortly after. Baier took a pass from Lesko with space in front of him. Baier skated into the shot and fired it through Thiel's five hole to put the Stars up 3-0 1:18 into the second.
Midway through the second, Owen Lamb put the Stars up 4-0. After a nifty passing play in the offensive zone, Kaelen Holt put a shot on net that was stopped by Thiel. The rebound was directed to Lamb, who put the puck into the open net with 9:51 to go in the period.
Less than a minute later, Kaleb Dahlgren tallied an unassisted marker. A shot from the point was knocked down in front of the Blackhawks' net and they tried to clear it away from the crease. The puck was deflected to the side of the net where Dahlgren tapped it in for a 5-0 Stars' lead.
After the goal, the Blackhawks changed goaltenders with Kody Kushniruk taking over the net. Thiel stopped 15 of 20 shots faced in just over 30 minutes of action.
Near the end of the second, the Stars struck again on the power play. Keegan McBride threw a shot on net from the faceoff circle and it trickled through Kushniruk's five hole with 2:54 left. It was the Stars' third and final power-play goal of the game on eight attempts.
With 1:12 to play in the second, the Stars went up seven goals. Lesko scored his second of the game when he cut through the defence to the middle of the zone and slid the puck through Kushniruk.
Less than two minutes into the third period, the Stars scored their eighth goal of the game. Derek Frater unleashed a shot from the left faceoff circle on the rush that got past Kushniruk 1:58 into the frame.
Beardy's spoiled the shutout 7:04 into the third period on the power play. Josh Sielsky chipped the puck over Stars goaltender Talen King from the top of the crease to make it an 8-1 game.
Both teams exchanged goals later in the third period. Holt finished off a nice cross-crease pass from Salaway with 10:47 left in the game. Approximately 30 seconds later, Beardy's made it a 9-2 game. King stopped Ryan Rothenburger's shot, but Jared Hamm jumped on the rebound and found the back of the net to wrap up the game's scoring.
King made 25 saves to pick up his first win of the season. Thiel was saddled with the loss for the Blackhawks. Kushniruk stopped 27 shots in relief for Beardy's.
The Stars (4-1-0-0) are in a four-way tie with the Tisdale Trojans, Regina Pat Canadians and Moose Jaw Generals for top spot in the SMAAAHL early in the season.
Battlefords take to the road for their next game when they travel to Saskatoon to face off against the Blazers. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Harold Latrace Arena.
The Stars return home to a two-game weekend set with the Moose Jaw Generals Oct. 18 and 19 to begin a seven-game homestand. Puck drop for both games is 2 p.m. at the Civic Centre.
