It is too early to tell, but the Battlefords North Stars win in La Ronge Tuesday has the makings of a mid-season turning point.
A come from behind win, a couple players had breakouts games with their first goals and the team has won two of their last four games, all of which were on the road to finally move to fifth place in the conference.
Tuesday in La Ronge, the North Stars, who were playing their fourth game since Friday, found themselves trailing 5-2 with four minutes left in the third period and were able to battle back for a 6-5 win in regulation.
"We were behind in the game, but from the start we played a real good road first period," said North Stars head coach and general manager Ken Pearson. "We played a real good second period, we didn't make a lot of mistakes, but it seemed like when we did make a mistake they were large enough (La Ronge) could capitalize on them. We were never out of the game, even when it was 5-2 we were all over them still. The guys' persistence (Tuesday) night was something I was real proud of them for and the way they played that game."
Alex Sirard made his first start in nearly two weeks, and although there were maybe some shots he would've like to have back, in the end he earned his first win of the season while making 22 saves.
The Ice Wolves struck first nearly seven minutes in when Dayton Fossum beat Sirard on a powerplay. The North Stars wasted no time responding, as Brody Luhning scored his first as a North Star from Shayne Morrissey and Tanner Schwab.
Late in the first, Travis Eggum regained the lead for the Ice Wolves and two minutes into the second, Nathan Boyer scored to put the Wolves up 3-1.
Before the second ended, the North Stars were able to draw within a goal, as Kyle Hall scored his first of the season shorthanded. Luhning and Woody Klassen had the assists.
Again La Ronge scored early in a period to increase their lead. This time Doug Lindensmith scored 53 seconds into the third period, but, according to Pearson, that goal was a turning point for his team. The goal came following a faceoff due to an offside against the North Stars, which they didn't agree with.
"From about that point on our guys really turned the game up a notch and forced them to take some penalties."
Before the dramatic comeback could start, La Ronge scored their fifth goal off the stick of Justin Remillard.
The North Stars continued to push and with 3:44 left the comeback began. Colin Phaneuf scored his team leading eighth of the season from Klassen and Luhning. Just 21 seconds later, Hall scored his second of the game from Tony Oak and Tim Rollins and nearly two minutes later, Luhing scored his second of the game from Phaneuf and Blake Tatchell.
With the goalie pulled, a powerplay and exactly a minute left in the third, Phaneuf crashed the net and scored his second of the game from Tatchell and Keith Grondin.
The North Stars held on in the final minute and moved out of the cellar in the Bauer Conference with a 4-7-1-1 record.
The North Stars were 1/5 on the powerplay and killed six of seven shorthanded situations. Adam Bartko face 37 shots in the loss.
The team knows they can't get too high after this win since they were scheduled to be back in action Thursday against Yorkton, but it is something they hope to continue on and hopefully build some momentum to climb the Bauer Conference standings.
"We don't want to get too excited, it is just one game," said Pearson. "But at the same time it was our fourth game in five nights and we quite easily could've just packed it in because we did play a good game and we could have of just been happy with the game we played, and so hopefully it is a sign of things to come."
Pearson also noted the lines were changed a bit for Tuesday's game and he was happy with the way players responded. On the topic of changing lines - the North Stars could get an added boost to their lineup once Boyd Wakelin and Brett Miller return to game action. Wakelin was possibly going to be in the lineup for Thursday's game and Pearson said Miller isn't far behind. He will likely be playing by the next time the North Stars play at home, which is Wednesday against La Ronge.
