On paper, Thursday's game between the Prince Albert Mintos and Battlefords Stars at the Civic Centre looked like an easy win for the home team, but there's a reason hockey's played on ice and not paper.
The Stars played eight games without losing in regulation and were at the top of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League Standings, the Mintos had won only one game and were in 11th place in the 12-team league. But Prince Albert, who has allowed the fewest goals against in the league, were led by defence and goaltending once again.
The Stars spent minute after minute in the offensive zone, controlling play, but were kept to the outside for most of the game. At times, the team got pass-happy and turned down some good chances to shoot. Their forwards have been setting up highlight reel goals for most of the season with their passing, but the formula didn't work Thursday.
With the top two lines not able to rack up the goals as they were in previous games, it gave some other players the chance to step up with strong two-way games. Traye Tkatchuk, Troy Gerein and Josh LaFramboise have been playing good defensive hockey all season, but could be overlooked when their teammates were scoring three points in a game.
Tkatchuk had a strong game as usual on defence, keeping opposing players away from the net on the penalty kill. He was boxing out Mintos' forwards and giving goaltender Rylan Toth a clear view of the puck.
Gerein is another player counted on heavily in penalty killing situations. Once again, he used his good skating and active stick to take away passing lanes and keep players on the outside. He didn't fly under the radar when he registered the hit of the game in the third period. Gerein caught a Mintos forward coming across the blue line with his head down and laid the hit, making his teammates on the bench go crazy.
LaFramboise had a number of scoring chances to go along with his penalty killing. He played a bottom six forward role most of the season, but stepped it up offensively Thursday. LaFramboise was rewarded by being put on the top line with Spencer Bast and Josh Bly in the third period.
However, the big efforts weren't enough to get the win. Lane Michaslw was lights out in net for Prince Albert, making 24 saves and registering a shutout. Toth was strong, too, but the Mintos registered three good scoring chances and capitalized on each.
The first goal was a bit of a fluke as the puck popped up softly and went over Toth's shoulder down low. Goal two came on a nice pass from down low to Keegan Kjargaard in the slot, who let the shot go in a hurry, and Toth couldn't square up in time. Goal three came on a two-man advantage when Ryan Duret stepped into the slot and hit the only opening over Toth's shoulder.
All in all, the Stars played well, but the honeymoon had to end eventually. They were the last team in the league to lose a game this season and only the Notre Dame Argos have outscored their opponents by a larger margin.
Those two teams meet Sunday in Notre Dame. The Stars play Saturday in Notre Dame as well against the last place Hounds.
