NORTH BATTLEFORD - The Battlefords North Stars preseason continued this weekend with two games versus the La Ronge Ice Wolves.
The first game of the home-and-home was at the Access Communications Centre where the North Stars took a 10-4 victory.
It was a young lineup in action on the night with most of the veteran star players sitting this one out. A variety of North Stars contributed to the win, with eight different goal scorers. The North Stars got goals in the first period from Easton Rask, Tanner Klimpke, Ethan Scriven (power play) and Wilson Steele to jump to an early 4-0 lead in the first period.
The Ice Wolves narrowed the score to 4-2, but the North Stars answered back with goals from Emmit Wurst, Aiden Arnold, Klimpke with his second and Ryder Kenyon on the power play.
Kenyon's second of the night, as well as Dylan Esau's first of the pre-season, rounded out the score sheet for the North Stars.
The game was also chippy with a host of penalties. The Stars' Zane Florence and Ice Wolves' Adam Kennedy got into a big scrap in the first period that led to roughing, major fighting and game misconduct penalties. In the second, the North Stars' Kevin-Thomas Walters and the Ice Wolves' Nate Looft were sent off for their scrap, while another fight erupted later in the period between Rask and the Ice Wolves' Ryan Chambers.
Jero Rossi got the start for the North Stars and stopped 15 of 17 shots in 31:53 minutes of action, while Ulrik Roussel went the rest of the way to stop 20/22.
The two teams returned to action the following afternoon in La Ronge and this time it was the Ice Wolves who emerged with a 6-5 shootout victory. For this game North Stars' veterans including Ryland McNinch, Jake Southgate and Steven Kesslering were in the lineup, as was newly acquired Holden Doell. It was the North Stars' first loss of the preseason after winning four in a row.
The next home game for the North Stars is this Friday, Sept. 17 against the Nipawin Hawks. It is their last home game of the preseason before the regular season starts Sept. 24. The North Stars finish the preseason on the road in Nipawin Saturday, Sept. 18.
