The Battlefords Stars took on the last place Swift Current Legionnaires Saturday afternoon as part of a back-to-back two game series.
It was the first time this season these two teams clashed and presented another tremendous opportunity for the Stars to continue their push for the playoffs.
They ran with the chance on another great performance in between the pipes from Lance Alm, who stopped 28 shots in a 6-2 win.
The push couldn’t have started much better. Before the game was six minutes old it was WHL prospect Luke Reid finding the back of the net from the deep right point. A wrist shot tickled twine through a screened Caleb Lumbard, short side and under his glove.The tally was Reid’s fourth of the season. Ben Hiltz and Keelan Saworski had the assists.
After a big one-time save from Alm, the Stars moved in transition on a two-on-one opportunity with Jayden Nachtegaele and Karstin McDonald. Nachtegaele deposited his sixth of the season, narrowly beating Lumbard far side after receiving the crisp, one-time feed from McDonald. Rookie Logan Spence led the charge with the initial feed.
An efficient puck-moving power play later and the Battlefords had a three-goal advantage. Ben Hiltz corralled the puck deep in the Swift Current zone before throwing it into the slot where it found the blade of Saworski. Number 24 snapped it over the glove of the netminder and into the back of the net. Saworski is having a big second half of the season thus far, fresh off his game winning goal against the Saskatoon Blazers, scoring his 14th of the season.
Swift Current wouldn’t throw in the towel, though.
The Legionnaires got on the board with their 12th shot of the game, finally being able to solve Alm on his glove side early in the middle period. Ethan Regnier snapped it home for his sixth of the season after taking a pass from Owen Ozar. Rin Beny registered the second assist on the tally.
Swift Current had a chance to cut the lead to one on a shorthanded breakaway but it was Alm coming up with yet another huge save in 2016, stopping the backhand try with his blocker. Five minutes later and caught on a bad change, Drieden Gauthier added another opportunity for the Legionnaires with a clean cut breakaway of his own, but was unable to get the puck past Alm after making a strong backhand-forehand move to the net.
Tanner Brewster preserved the two-goal advantage on the penalty kill, blocking three consecutive shots from the Swift Current power play late in the second period. He finished with five blocks on the day.
His courage to sacrifice his body sparked the offence once again. Mason Mullaney found a streaking Nayte Zip off of the bench who backhanded it towards Lumbard and off his pads. The puck then found Kenzie Arnold who promptly delivered a three-goal lead to the Stars.
Like the second period, the Legionnaires came out firing in the final frame, cutting the deficit in half. Beating Alm blocker side from the left hash-mark, it was Matthew Jones scoring his team leading 13th of the season. 4-2 Stars.
Not to be outdone, the Battlefords came right back to restore the three-goal advantage, putting the game to rest. Jordan Mish scored his seventh on the campaign, beating Lumbard short side after receiving a pass from McDonald.
Zip tallied his third of the season with 10 seconds left to put the nail in the coffin, winning the first of two games against Swift Current on the weekend.
Game two will be played tomorrow at the Civic Centre, puck drop is 2pm.
