After a lopsided 7-2 loss Saturday at the Civic Centre to the Estevan Bruins, the Battlefords North Stars were determined to make sure that wasn’t the lasting memory their fans would take away from their 2017-18 campaign.
They assured themselves of one more contest in North Battleford Thursday night, as they staved off elimination from their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League semifinal series with a wild 9-6 win Tuesday at Affinity Place in the fourth game of a best-of-seven affair.
“We got a bunch of 20-year-olds on the roster and they are all really excited in the locker room right now about getting the chance to come home,” North Stars forward MacGregor Sinclair said.
“Our younger guys are feeling the same way as our veterans. We’ve had a good year and we’re looking to have a great finish.”
Tuesday’s heroics came a night after the North Stars dropped a 5-2 decision to the Bruins, which put the defending Canalta Cup champions on the verge of being knocked out of the playoffs.
“We were definitely better in certain parts of our game Tuesday compared to Monday,” North Stars general manager and head coach Brandon Heck said.
“We were hungrier in getting to pucks, we had a ton of energy and we also dictated the play. We also got the first goal, which was huge as we were able to keep pressuring and frustrate our opponent.”
Sinclair led the way up front for the North Stars as he potted a pair of goals and helped to set up two others, which moved him into a tie with teammate Layne Young for the SJHL playoff scoring lead with 14 points in eight games.
The Canisius Golden Griffins committed forward has seven goals and seven assists, while Young has four goals and 10 assists.
“We were finally able to figure out [Bruins netminder Bo] Didur and I think we switched up the momentum a bit as a result, as we’re no longer playing a guessing game against him,” Sinclair said.
“I think it was more of the little things that allowed us to have a good night offensively. We crashed the net a lot more in this game than we had in the first three against Estevan, and I think that made quite a difference.”
Dakota Huebner returned to the scoresheet in a big way as he found the back of the net twice on the power play for his first goals since a 4-3 shootout win over the Nipawin Hawks on Jan. 9.
“He was tracking well in the middle of the ice and he was able to move around in front of the net to get those two goals,” Heck said.
“I think Dakota’s starting to get his confidence back. Once he got that first goal, we started to see more of the player that we saw earlier this season.”
Keith Anderson and Matthias Urbankski had a goal and two assists each for the visitors, who also got goals from Cody Spagrud, Garan Magnes and Elijah Loon-Stewardson.
Taryn Kotchorek returned in goal for the North Stars and made 32 saves, including several key stops in the third period as Estevan rallied to within a goal.
It was a tough setback for the Bruins, as they clawed their way back into the game on multiple occasions but ended up suffering their first loss of the post-season as they tried clinch a berth into the final for the first time since they won the SJHL crown in 1999.
“We’re a team that never quits until the final buzzer, so I’m pleased about how hard we fought,” Bruins general manager and head coach Chris Lewgood said. “However, you aren’t going to win many hockey games if you have to score nine goals.
“In the first three games, we were backchecking with a purpose and out numbering the North Stars, but the exact opposite happened tonight. At times we were lazy and we got away from our game plan. We let them hang around too much in the front of the net and they were able to bang in rebounds.”
The Bruins were led up front by captain Jake Fletcher, as he had a goal and two assists.
Jerzy Martin had a goal and an assist for the hosts, who also got contributions on offences from Johnny Witzke, Jack Michell and Michael McChesney.
Didur made 28 saves for the Bruins, but he left the game late in the second period with an undisclosed injury.
He was wincing in pain after making a save on Young and immediately headed to the bench after Sinclair gave the North Stars a 6-4 lead.
Didur’s status for Thursday’s game at the Civic Centre was unclear following Tuesday’s affair.
Matt Lukacs finished out the contest and made seven saves in a relief role as he took to the ice for the first time since a 5-4 shootout win over the Weyburn Red Wings on Feb. 23.
As both teams prepare for Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. meeting at the Civic Centre, their main focus is to improve their defensive zone play after Tuesday’s 15-goal thriller.
“I thought we did a good job for most of the game of chipping the puck out,” Sinclair said. “However, we got caught twice fiddling around with the puck in our own end and we also gave them a couple of odd-man rushes that they scored on. You can’t do that against Estevan, especially with their power play.”
“We’re going to spend a lot of time looking at the film before Thursday,” Lewgood added. “We have some backchecking principles, with a major focus on the penalty kill, that we want to see from our guys and they did a poor job of following that tonight.”
If the North Stars can stave off elimination once again, the series will head back to Estevan for a sixth game Saturday.
A seventh and deciding contest, if required, would be held at the Civic Centre Tuesday.
In the other SJHL semifinal series, the Humboldt Broncos picked up a big 2-1 win at home over the Nipawin Hawks, which cut the Hawks’ series lead to 2-1.
Conner Lukan and Logan Boulet both scored for the hosts, who received a 29-save performance from rookie Jacob Wasserman.
Christian Bosa replied for the Hawks, while Declan Hobbs turned aside 32 shots.
Both teams will return to the ice Wednesday at the Elgar Petersen Arena.
