The Battlefords North Stars had to hope their game against the Humboldt Broncos was not a “playoff preview” on Wednesday.
The North Stars ended up getting bombed 6-1 by the Broncos, in a matchup between the team that has already clinched first overall versus a Broncos team sitting in eighth spot 31 points behind them -- a margin cut to 29 points after the game.
If the season ended today the North Stars and Broncos would meet in the opening round, although it is still not certain. The Broncos’ win means they still could catch Nipawin or Estevan ahead of them in the standings with two games remaining; both teams are three points ahead of the Broncos.
Based on the standings, one would have expected the North Stars to have the easy night, not the Broncos. But a major factor Wednesday was a depleted lineup. Several North Stars players sat out the game, with some recovering from longstanding injuries while others got much-needed rest.
Big names like Quintin Loon-Stewardson, Matthias Urbanski, Austin Becker, Matthew Fletcher and several others had the night off. Into the lineup were several players from the AAA ranks. Those included Jake Southgate (who spent the season with the AAA Stars), Holden Doell (Beardy’s), Hunter Weber (Yorkton) and Kai Joorisity (Yorkton).
It ended up being a lopsided night on the shot count. The Broncos fired 60 shots at Austin Schwab in goal, versus 22 from the North Stars.
The Broncos got two goals in the first period from Braiden Koran and Logan Kurki and then one from Cody Hough on the power play in the second to build a 3-0 lead.
Ryland McNinch got the lone goal of the game for the North Stars at the 6:09 mark of period two with Doell and Kaden Boser assisting. For Doell it was his first SJHL point.
But Reid Arnold and Logan Foster (power play) extended the lead in period two, and in period three Arnold added the exclamation point by scoring shorthanded.
The North Stars are back home Friday for their final home game of the regular season against the Kindersley Klippers, with the North Stars’ season finale happening on the road in Kindersley Saturday.
