The North Stars travelled to Kindersley for game two of the SJHL playoffs Saturday night. Just a day ago, the Battlefords were able to hold on to a 2-1 lead after a two-goal performance from Rookie of the Year, Layne Young.
Carrying over from the regular season, the black and white were looking for their 13th straight win and 10th against Kindersley, all while gaining a 2-0 series advantage.
An offensive outburst in the third period catapulted the Battlefords to a 5-3 victory, erasing a 2-1 deficit.
The North Stars set the tone in the opening frame, laying the body within the first couple minutes. Jordan Wiest had a tremendous highlight reel hit, but the physicality didn’t transfer onto the scoreboard. This isn’t to say the Battlefords didn’t have their chances, though. Levi Kleiboer had an opportunity deep in the slot but wasn’t able to find the back of the net. Then, Young found Coby Downs after digging the puck out of the corner but Nathan Hargrave came up with a big save.
Austin Calladine broke the deadlock with two minutes remaining in the first period. A defensive collapse led to a breakaway for the Klippers’ top goal scorer. Calladine beat Tyler Fuhr over the glove with a shot that hit the top right corner, giving Kindersley their first lead of the series.
In the middle frame it was Coby Downs who kicked off the scoring for the North Stars, tying the game at one. From his own zone, Kendall Fransoo found Downs at the Kindersley blue line with a crisp outlet feed. Downs was in all alone and made no mistake, snapping a shot past Hargrave in front of the many fans who made the trip out from the Battlefords.
“Kendall was phenomenal, he did it all,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game. “We put him out there on the five-on-three and short handed situations … He was blocking shots, he was fighting. That’s a captain. That’s everything you want in your captain.”
Just two minutes later it was Cody Young of the Klippers gloving a pass from Clive Rozdeba before dropping it to his stick in the left slot. Young stepped up and snapped a shot that beat Fuhr under the glove and on the far side. 2-1 Kindersley.
Another chapter in the heated rivalry between these two teams was written a few minutes later. Baxter Kanter dropped the gloves with Dexter Bricker on the far side of the rink, landing numerous right hands to the face of Bricker before dropping him to the ice. Fransoo then came to the aid of his goaltender after Calladine took a cheap shot at Fuhr, firing some big body shots as Calladine turtled and covered his face.
“The game got a little emotional and a little personal,” Hasselberg said after the tilt. “Kendall did a great job when we thought they took liberties on our goaltender.”
Nonetheless, the Klippers led 2-1 after 40 minutes, but the advantage wouldn’t last long.
After not scoring a goal on the power play in nine opportunities in game one, the man advantage cracked Hargrave early in the final frame. Downs found Connor Sych at the point, who fired a shot through traffic, beating the Klippers netminder under the glove to deadlock the game at two. Leonenko registered the second assist, giving him at least one point in each playoff game.
Downs capped his big, three-point night with a goal that gave the North Stars their first lead of the game. Young found number 16 in the corner, who then drove to the net. Hargrave was able to stop his initial shot, but Downs stayed with the play, picking up his own rebound before tucking it into the back of the net. His celebration may have been one of the best I have seen thus far this season. As the North Stars bench, and the injured/scratched players in the booth erupted, Downs clutched the logo on his jersey while staring down the Kindersley “peanut gallery,” who had been relentlessly chirping the Battlefords all night long.
Leonenko scored the eventual game winner three minutes later on a two-on-one with a pinching Sych. As the Klippers defenceman dropped to his knees, Sych was still able to feather a crisp pass onto the tape of Leonenko, who promptly fired a shot into the open cage for his first goal of the playoffs, giving the North Stars a 4-2 lead.
“He’s a selfless player [Sych],” Hasselberg said, “At the beginning of the game he blocked a shot yesterday in game one, and his ankle was pretty sore, and he didn’t know if he would be able to go tonight. He made that decision [to play], Connor Sych at 70 per cent is still a good player and tonight he proved that.”
Young brought Kindersley within one with ten minutes remaining, scoring on the power play, but, again, the North Stars held on for their second straight win. Bryce Hall later added an empty netter to make it 5-3.
Physicality has owned this series throughout two games, and Hasselberg said this is just the beginning.
“It’s going to get even more [physical]. The tempers are rising in this series, both teams are starting to get annoyed with one another, and it’s great, that’s playoff hockey.”
The black and white are now a perfect 10-0 against the Klippers this year, and have a chance to make it 11 as they go for the 3-0 series stranglehold Tuesday at the Civic Centre.
News-Optimist THREE STARS
1) Coby Downs (2 G, 1 A)
2) Igor Leonenko (GWG, 2 A)
3) Connor Sych (1 G, 1 A)
