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North Stars held scoreless as Melfort ties series

The Canalta Cup finals head to Melfort all tied up after the Mustangs shut out the North Stars 1-0 Saturday night. The North Stars simply could not find an answer to Shawn Parkinson who stopped all 28 Battlefords shots on the night.
Game Two North Stars Melfort
The puck went everywhere except into the Melfort net Saturday as Shawn Parkinson recorded a shutout against the North Stars in game two of the finals. Photo by John Cairns

The Canalta Cup finals head to Melfort all tied up after the Mustangs shut out the North Stars 1-0 Saturday night.

The North Stars simply could not find an answer to Shawn Parkinson who stopped all 28 Battlefords shots on the night. Parkinson was a surprise starter for the Mustangs after Noah Giesbrecht got the start in game one, losing 6-2.

Joel Grzybowski had another solid night in the North Stars net, stopping 21 of 22 shots. Unfortunately, the one Mustangs goial was enough. It was Jake Hobson scoring from Kayle Tosh at the 11:17 mark of period two.

Despite a flurry of chances by the North Stars afte Grzybowski was pulled for an extra attacker late in the third, they could not force overtime. Now, it's a series, and the North Stars go to Melfort needing at least a split to get back home ice advantage in the series. 

"There wasn't much either way and it is what it is," said head coach Brayden Klimosko about the low-scoring matchup.

As for what has to change next time, Klimosko suggested "maybe generate more pucks towards the net, but they're doing a good job defending, too."

The two teams get a breather now for the next couple of days and head to Melfort to resume action Tuesday night for game three of the finals. Game four is Wednesday night and game five is definitely back in North Battleford at the Civic Centre on Friday.