The Battlefords AAA Stars came out on the right side of a 6-5 score against the Swift Current Legionnaires in a game in which both teams took turns being hot and cold.
Saturday’s game at the Civic Centre was a wild and streaky affair, with a string of goals by one team always being answered by the other.
The Stars took an early 3-0 lead with the first goal coming from Matt Allardyce while Luke Fennig scored two more to extend the margin.
That barrage chased Swift Current goaltender Cody Levesque out of the net, to be replaced by Steven Duchscher.
Hunter Lamb’s goal, his first of three on the night, came at the 11:53 mark to wrap up the scoring in the first period.
Despite the opening flurry by the Stars, it was actually Swift Current that led in the shots department 16-9 through one.
In the second period the Legionnaires tied it up on two goals from Owen Ozar, the first coming on the power play.
But the Stars regained their lead late in the period with an unassisted goal by Tye Scherger, followed by a power play goal from Scherger again with Trey Stocker and Ian Hillis assisting to make it 5-3 through two.
The shots on goal still favoured the Legionnaires 29-17 after 40 minutes.
The Stars almost extended the lead to 6-3 when they rattled the puck off the goalpost early in the third.
Seconds later, Damon McKenzie made no mistake, firing home another power play goal. Hillis got the assist.
Two goals by Lamb narrowed the margin down to 6-5, but that would be it for the Legionnaires as the Stars held on for a 6-5 advantage, while the final shots on goal favoured Swift Current 33-29.
It was a wild game, but Stars coach Norm Johnston was simply happy to come away with a “w."
“A win’s a win,” said Johnston in speaking to reporters after the game. “Right now all that matters is getting these kids to win and score goals, that’s all that matters.”
The game was also dominated by penalties and some officiating that got under the skin of the coaches on both sides. In the second period, a major penalty for charging was assessed to Shayde Peterson of the Stars, but there was considerable confusion over the initial call with coaches on the Legionnaires yelling to the referees that they “had the wrong guy."
In the third period, with the Stars clinging to a 6-5 lead, they found themselves down two men when Scherger was assessed a boarding penalty with 3:40 left. Coach Johnston yelled “you’re kidding” when the penalty was called. Fortunately, the Stars managed to kill off the penalty.
“Not very good,” was Johnston’s assessment of the officiating afterwards.
“They took the game away from the kids.”
Still, the Stars have their second win of the year, against four defeats, which puts them in a tie for 10th place in the standings with the Notre Dame Argos and the Saskatoon Blazers on four points.
Carter Serhyenko got the win in net for the Battlefords with 28 saves on 33 shots.
The Stars now head on the road Thursday night for their next contest against the Saskatoon Blazers.
They’ll play the Blazers at the Civic Centre Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
