For the first time since Feb. 24, the Battlefords North Stars have lost a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game.
Their win streak, which spanned 17 games, was snapped by the Estevan Bruins Saturday at the Civic Centre as the Bruins came away with a 4-3 overtime win.
“There’s a lot of upset guys in the locker room right now as they are all really competitive,” North Stars head coach and general manager Brandon Heck said.
“With that said, there’s a number of guys that need to look in the mirror after this game. We can’t rely on a handful of guys to carry us through. It needs to be a team effort.”
The North Stars also saw their 16-game win streak at the Civic Centre come to an end as their last lost on home ice came on Jan. 13.
The victory for the Bruins was a nice bounce-back for the team, as they were coming off their first loss of the year a night earlier in a wild 7-5 affair against the Kindersley Klippers.
“Last night was definitely a let down,” Bruins forward Zach Goberis said. “We took Kindersley for granted and they ended up taking it to us.
“We wanted to come in here and play a much better game, especially with the sour taste in our mouths that we still have from last year when we lost to Battlefords in the semifinals.”
Goberis, who leads the league in scoring with 10 points in four games, was the hero for the Bruins Saturday as he converted a feed from teammate Hayden Guilderson and put a shot past North Stars goaltender Taryn Kotchorek at the 1:59 mark of overtime.
That goal came nearly a minute after teammate Michael McChesney had a chance to put the game away on a breakaway, but ended up shooting the puck over the net.
“I though Michael was going to bury that so I was pretty upset that we didn’t win on that play,” Goberis said.
“One of our defencemen made a really nice play to force a turnover and he played the puck off the boards. Hayden was fresh off the bench and had a lot of speed coming down the wing. He made a nice pass over to me and I saw that their goalie was cheating to the right side of the net, so I took a shot at the left side and luckily it went in.”
Goberis led the way up front for the Bruins with a goal and two assists, while Guilderson also scored to go along with his assist in overtime.
McChesney and Matthew Chekay had the other goals for the Bruins, who received a 20 save performance from Matt Lukacs.
The North Stars offence was once again led by captain Layne Young, as he scored a pair of goals.
Connor McIntosh also found the back of the net in the opening frame, while Kotchorek made 24 saves in the loss.
“Our goaltending was good once again and we did create a number of chances on offence, but we weren’t at our best,” Heck said.
“I think the long layoff was noticeable. We weren’t sharp, we weren’t wanting pucks and not enough guys were ready to go tonight.”
The North Stars will now gear up for two games at the SJHL’s showcase event in Saskatoon, as they’ll take on the Melville Millionaires Sunday at 4:15 p.m. before facing off with the Bruins once again at 10 a.m. Monday.
Sunday SJHL Schedule (All Games in Saskatoon)
- Nipawin vs. Humboldt – 1 p.m.
- Battlefords vs. Melville – 4:15 p.m.
- Flin Flon vs. Weyburn – 7:30 p.m.
Standings
Olympic Buildings Division
1. Humboldt Broncos – 6 points (3-1)
2. Notre Dame Hounds – 6 points (2-0-1-1)
3. Battlefords North Stars – 5 points (2-0-1)
4. Kindersley Klippers – 3 points (1-2-1)
Sherwood Division
1. Melfort Mustangs – 8 points (4-0)
2. Flin Flon Bombers – 4 points (2-1)
3. Nipawin Hawks – 3 points (1-1-1)
4. La Ronge Ice Wolves – 0 points (0-3)
Viterra Division
1. Estevan Bruins – 6 points (3-1)
2. Weyburn Red Wings – 3 points (1-1-1)
3. Yorkton Terriers – 3 points (1-2-1)
4. Melville Millionaires – 2 points (1-2)
Scoring Race
1. Zach Goberis (Estevan) – 10 points (3 goals and 7 assists)
2. Colby Brandt (Notre Dame) – 8 points (2 goals and 6 assists)
3. Michael McChesney (Estevan) – 7 points (4 goals and 3 assists)
4. Layne Young (Battlefords) – 7 points (4 goals and 3 assists)
5. Justin Ball (Melfort) – 6 points (2 goals and 4 assists)
6. Chance Longjohn (Notre Dame) – 6 points (2 goals and 4 assists)
7. Brett Harasymuk (Nipawin) – 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists)
Goals Against Average Leaders
1. Maxim Sidelnik (Estevan) – 1.00 (1-0-0)
2. Jack Ryan (Notre Dame) – 1.00 (1-0-0)
3. Jake Anthony (Nipawin) – 1.26 (1-0-0)
4. Taryn Kotchorek (Battlefords) – 1.31 (2-0-1)
5. Jacob Standen (Notre Dame) – 1.92 (1-0-1-1)
