Not only are the Battlefords North Stars the hottest team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, but they are also all alone at the top of the 12-team loop.
The North Stars have now won eight straight games, with their most recent victory coming Saturday night at the Civic Centre with a 3-1 triumph over the Humboldt Broncos.
That result came a little over 24 hours after the North Stars escaped La Ronge with a 4-3 shootout win over the Ice Wolves.
“I thought our performance on Saturday was night and day compared to how we played on Friday,” North Stars general manager and head coach Nate Bedford said. “We just need to find a way to do that in every single game.
“My message to the guys was to keep the goal in mind of taking a step forward each time out. When we come out and have a lackluster effort like we did in La Ronge, we take a step back and we get further away from our goal.”
This weekend’s results improved the North Stars record to 16-5-0-0 and gives them 32 points so far this year.
They are now three points ahead of the Broncos for top spot in the Finning Division and lead the Estevan Bruins by a single point for first place in the league standings.
Unlike the 5-1 win the North Stars picked up over the Broncos at the Civic Centre two weeks ago, Saturday’s encounter turned into a goaltending duel.
Rookie Joel Grzybowski had the upper hand over Garrett Mason in the battle between the pipes, as the North Stars netminder made 29 saves to improve to 8-1-0-0 on the season.
“I love playing in those types of games where the other goaltender is playing well, as it drives me to get better as the game goes on,” Grzybowski said.
“In a close game like that, you really get to see the character come out in everyone’s eyes. We grinded a win out against a really good team, and we showed that we are right up there with Humboldt.”
Coby Downs led the way on offence with a two-point night. He made a great pass to set up Ben Allen’s game-winning goal near the halfway point of the third period and rounded the night out by scoring on an empty net with just 22 seconds remaining.
Troy Gerein scored a short-handed goal in the second period, on a play that was started by a great forecheck from McGregor Sinclair.
Matthieu Gomercic found the back of the net early in the first period for the Broncos while Mason turned aside 43 shots in the loss.
“I thought we put in a really good effort tonight, but we made two mistakes that cost us the game,” Broncos general manager and head coach Darcy Haugen said.
“We would have liked to come away from here with a couple of points, but there’s a lot of positives that we can take from this as we move forward. We played well in a tough building.”
Friday’s encounter with the Ice Wolves marked the second time this season that the North Stars were pushed beyond regulation time.
Connor Logan had the only goal in the shootout while Taryn Kotchorek made a pair of saves to stave off the upset bid from the SJHL’s cellar dwellers.
“Taryn was in goal for us when we went to a shootout in Flin Flon last month as well, and he’s a very good shootout goalie,” Bedford said. “He’s hard to beat in practice and he’s a very confident guy, which helps him a lot as well.
“I thought we controlled the game for the most part, but we didn’t really follow the game plan that was set out on defence. I felt like at times we were pressing too much to try and do things on their side of the ice instead of being worried about what was happening in our own end.”
Conor Jensen and Brett Horn each had a goal and an assist for the North Stars with the other goal coming from the stick of Keaton Holliday. Logan had a pair of assists to go with his shootout heroics, while Kotchorek made 22 saves.
Tristen Elder found the net twice for the Ice Wolves while Curtis Peck dished out a pair of helpers. Jared Blaquiere also scored for the hosts while Aaron MacKay made 53 saves in a losing effort.
The two sides will square off again Tuesday night in a 7:30 p.m. affair at the Civic Centre.
That game will also mark the debut of 18-year-old forward Keelan Saworski, who was acquired in a trade with the Melfort Mustangs Friday.
The Regina native, who had three points in 11 games for the Mustangs this season, suited up for the Battlefords AAA Stars a year ago in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League and had 34 points in 43 games.
