The Battlefords North Stars have punched their ticket to the SJHL Canalta Cup finals.
The North Stars beat the Yorkton Terriers 3-0 in game four of their SJHL semi-final series being played tonight in Yorkton, to sweep the series in four straight games.
In doing so, the North Stars shut down the highest scoring offence in the league. The Terriers scored a grand total of two goals all series and were shut out for the last three games.
Like the previous two games, it was another tight contest. Quintin Loon-Stewardson opened the scoring for the North Stars in the first period, and Brett Gammer got the insurance marker at the 12:20 mark in the third period on the power play. Braydon Buziak and Owen Lamb assisted.
Ryan Gil erased all doubt by scoring with 1:42 remaining, Lamb and Macgregor Sinclair assisting.
It was another sensational outing for North Stars' goaltender Joel Grzybowski who recorded a shutout for the third straight playoff game and for the fourth time in the playoffs. Grzybowski stopped 31 shots while Ryan Ouellette of the Terriers stopped 32 of 35 shots at the other end.
According to the league's Twitter feed, Grzybowski's current shutout streak is now up to 198 minutes.
The North Stars now await the winner of the Melfort Mustangs-Estevan Bruins series still in progress. That series is tied 2-2 after the Bruins' 4-2 win on Wednesday.
Details on dates for the Canalta Cup finals are not yet released, but the series will begin at the North Battleford Civic Centre with the North Stars holding home ice advantage in that series.
