With the Battlefords North Stars lengthy win streak over the Kindersley Klippers now a thing of the past, the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League rivals are now doing battle in back and forth affairs on a regular basis.
The latest chapter between the two Olympic Buildings Division foes occurred at the Civic Centre Tuesday night, as Chaseton Braid scored the winning goal in a shootout to give the North Stars a 4-3 win.
“Having played against them a few times now, I’m starting to get a feel for this rivalry,” Braid said.
“It’s a lot of fun playing the Klippers on a regular basis, especially as we are in the same division.”
After watching teammates MacGregor Sinclair and Layne Young score earlier in the shootout, while North Stars goaltender Taryn Kotchorek turned aside Jordan Funk at the other end of the ice after allowing a goal by Cody Hodgson in the first round of the skills competition, Braid gave his team the win by sliding a backhanded shot through the five-hole of Klippers netminder Justen Close.
“Both ‘Sinc’ and ‘Younger’ were able to open him up a little bit with five-hole goals on their shots,” Braid said. “I stuck with that strategy and luckily enough it went in the net.”
Young, Levi Kleiboer and Blake Fennig all found the back of the net for the North Stars in regulation, while Kotchorek made 16 saves to earn the victory.
“The boys battled back in this one,” Braid said. “It never quite goes the way you draw it up every night, so it was good that we could come back and win in the shootout.
“We had a few breakdowns in our own end that allowed them to get there goals, but we did a good job of sticking to our game plan and come out on top.”
Hodgson, Tanner Thompson and Eddie May all scored for the Klippers, who have lost their last two games and sit in eighth place in the SJHL standings with 24 points and a 10-7-2-2 record.
“We hung in there for most of the game and Close made some big saves to keep us in there,” Klippers assistant coach Larry Wintoneak said.
“Our special teams struggled at times and maybe our swagger was a little too much when we got up 2-0, as the North Stars are a team that’s never out of it.”
Close turned another solid performance for the Klippers in goal as he made 41 saves.
The North Stars, who have won their last four games and are fourth in the league with a 16-3-1-0 record, will be back at the Civic Centre Friday night to host the Notre Dame Hounds.
The Hounds, who currently lead the Olympic Buildings Division by a single point over the North Stars, picked up a 5-1 win in Wilcox last Wednesday night in the most recent meeting between the two sides.
“They are a pretty good team with a lot of skill on offence to go along with a tough defence,” North Stars assistant coach Boyd Wakelin said.
“Playing them on the big ice in Wilcox presented a bit of a challenge for us last week, but I think we should see a pretty good battle here Friday. It’s another good test for us at this point of the year.”
The North Stars will then go on to face their other divisional foe, the Humboldt Broncos, on the road Saturday night.
