After a successful January, one that saw the AAA Stars win eight of their 10 games and climb three spots in the standings to seventh, the black and white travelled to Moose Jaw for a big test against the Generals.
The first game at Mosaic Place had the Stars and Generals exchanging blows.
The Battlefords ended up on the wrong side of a 2-0 game, while being narrowly outshot 31-29.
One thing that can’t be unnoticed is their penalty kill unit, who went a perfect five for five Saturday. They are now nine for nine in their last two games.
After a scoreless first period, Caleb Reiss got the Generals on the board with five minutes left to play in the middle stanza. The goal was his 12th of the season 37th point of the year, which is good for 13th in the SMAAAHL. Jayden Davis started the play and drew the assist.
Evan Thomas iced the game in the final frame with his 15th of the campaign, beating Stars netminder Lance Alm. Devan Harrison and Chantz Petruic collaborated on the goal.
Alm had yet another solid performance in net though, stopping 29 of 31 shots the Generals threw at him. He has done a great job of keeping the Stars in games all season long, especially in the second half.
On the other end, Hunter Arps recorded the 29-save shutout.
Game two of the series took place Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Stars exacted their revenge with a strong start in net from Jake Taylor, who made 40 saves in a 3-2 win in overtime.
Tyson Manz kicked the scoring off for Moose Jaw in the opening period, scoring his 14th of the year from Chantz Petruic and Jayden Davis.
The black and white came back under a minute later to tie the game at one, courtesy of Jayden Nachtegaele. The North Battleford native took a pass from Logan Spence before depositing his ninth goal into the back of the net, beating the outstretched pad of Coby Entz.
Petruic got on the board once again with his third point of the series, corralling a pass from Cole Fonstad before sniping a shot past Taylor. Evan Thomas had the second assist.
After Taylor made nine saves in a scoreless second, the Battlefords set the stage for an exciting third period.
Owen Lamb, like he has done all season long, came up clutch, scoring his 12th of the campaign with just five minutes left to play, tying the game at two to send it to overtime.
14-year-old Luke Reid showed why he is on the radar for WHL teams at such a young age, scoring the game-winning goal, bringing the Stars one point behind Prince Albert for sixth place in the standings.
The penalty kill, once again, was special Sunday, killing off the three penalties they faced in what was a disciplined hockey game.
On deck for the Stars is a big game against the Blazers Thursday as they travel to Saskatoon.
