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After some sub-par showings by their standards, the Battlefords North Stars concluded their slate of seven straight games at the Civic Centre with performances that fans have come to expect over the last couple of seasons.
Following a dramatic 2-1 win Thursday over the Weyburn Red Wings, the North Stars cruised to a 7-0 triumph Friday over the La Ronge Ice Wolves and then edged out the Notre Dame Hounds in a 1-0 affair Saturday.
With four straight victories and a 6-1 record during the home stand, the defending Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League champions have improved their record to 38-9-2-0 and are on the verge of capturing their third consecutive division title.
“We’re all pretty happy with how this stretch of games finished up,” North Stars captain Layne Young said.
“We definitely can’t complain about these last three games. We’ve worked a lot on our defensive zone play and it’s shown with only allowing one goal over the last three nights.”
A first period power play goal by Red Wings forward Tyran Brown proved to be the only blemish the North Stars in a three-day stretch as Taryn Kotchorek stopped all 33 shots he faced from Ice Wolves Friday and Joel Grzybowski turned aside the 24 attempts on goal that the Hounds threw at him.
With the goaltenders doing their job in between the pipes, the rest of the North Stars were focused on making sure that they got the puck out of their zone as quickly as possible to limit the scoring chances for the opposition.
“Our forwards are working hard to get open up the ice and our defencemen are making great passes to get the puck out of our own end,” Young said.
“I really liked the way the guys paid the price against Notre Dame,” North Stars head coach and general manager Brandon Heck added. “That’s a very encouraging sign, especially in the final game of a busy stretch of games for us.”
A second period power play goal by Cole Johnson proved to be the difference maker in Saturday’s 1-0 triumph, which saw Hounds netminder Jack Ryan make 27 saves in a losing effort.
“That was the type of game we want to be in on the road at this time of the year,” Hounds head coach Clint Mylymok said.
“Both goaltenders were outstanding tonight and we had a couple of great chances late to tie it up, but their goalie [Grzybowski] was able to make the big saves when called upon.”
Young, who now has a league best total of 95 points, and Levi Kleiboer both had assists on Johnson’s game-winner.
The North Stars offence came to life early Friday night, as they scored three goals in two minutes and 41 seconds of action and sent Ice Wolves starting goaltender Merek Pipes to the showers.
“We’ve been really stressing to each other about going hard to the net and getting the rebounds,” Young said. “Every goal doesn’t have to be pretty. It’s all about putting the puck home.
“In my opinion, we have the best depth in the entire league. We just need to make sure we take advantage of our chances and stay out of the penalty box.”
Young and Chaseton Braid each had a pair of goals and an assist in the victory, while blueliner Connor Manegre had a goal and two helpers.
Johnson and Connor McIntosh both had three assist nights for the North Stars, who also got goals from Troy Gerein and Kleiboer.
The only draw back from that encounter, which saw MacGregor Sinclair return to the lineup, came in the second period as North Stars Garan Magnes was helped off the ice with an apparent leg injury.
He did not play Saturday against the Hounds and is expected to be out for a couple of weeks.
Thursday’s battle between the North Stars and the Red Wings was typical of recent meetings between the two sides at the Civic Centre, as neither side gave the other much to work with offensively.
“We really had to battle hard to get a chance to score some goals, even though we outshot them quite a bit,” Braid said.
 “I thought we were all over them throughout the night, but their goalie [Arik Weersink] made some really good saves and we missed the net quite a bit as well on the chances that we had.”
Just minutes after fanning on a shot on a wide-open net during a power play, Braid made no mistakes on his second opportunity as he crashed the net off of a feed from Young and put the puck home with 1:51 left on the clock to score his second goal of the night.
Red Wings head coach Wes Rudy and Weersink were not pleased that the goal stood, however, as they felt the Red Wings netminder was interfered with prior to the puck crossing the goal line.
The visitors had one more chance to tie the game with 14 seconds left on the clock, but Kotchorek made a stellar shoulder save on Erik Olson to keep the lead intact.
Thanks to their recent success at home, the North Stars now hold a 15-point lead over the Humboldt Broncos for first place in the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division with nine games left in their regular season schedule.
By having a game in hand on their nearest rival, the North Stars can clinch the division crown with a win or a loss by the Broncos over the next couple of weeks.
The North Stars are also now four points back of the Nipawin Hawks for the top spot in the SJHL standings, though the Hawks do have a game in hand and haven’t lost in regulation in 29 games in a streak that began in November.
With the Saskatchewan Winter Games taking over the Civic Centre, the North Stars will start a four-game road trip next Saturday night against the Estevan Bruins.
They’ll take on the Hounds in Wilcox on Sunday afternoon and visit the Red Wings on Monday afternoon before facing the Melfort Mustangs on Friday, Feb. 23.
Their next home game will be on Friday, March 2 against the Broncos.Â
