The Battlefords North Stars kicked off their seven-game home stand this week with a pair of victories.
However, a subpar showing Saturday night at the Civic Centre left head coach and general manager Brandon Heck with a strong comment about his squad’s performance.
“I don’t think we’ve played well in a while,” Heck said.
That statement came after the North Stars allowed two goals in the final minutes and took numerous penalties over the course of the evening as they dropped a 4-3 affair to the Melville Millionaires.
“Our discipline was the key factor tonight as we took way too many selfish penalties,” Heck said. “That’s happened to us in the past, but never the amount that I saw us take in this game.
“I thought we did a good job for the most part in the third, but we didn’t score on a long power play, we took a penalty that ended another long man advantage just as it was starting and then we took a really selfish penalty in the final minutes that led to their game-winning goal. It’s really disappointing.”
As the home crowd sat in silence over what transpired in the third period, the Millionaires were ecstatic as they picked up their first win over the North Stars at the Civic Centre since Jan. 30, 2015.
“We had a huge change in our emotional level after the first period,” Millionaires head coach and general manager Devin Windle said.
“I overheard one of our guys saying that we looked like zombies out there, but in the last 40 minutes we dug in and grinded it out against a really good team.”
Leading the way for the Millionaires was netminder Brandon Wells, as he turned aside 37 shots and stopped all 16 that he faced in the third period.
“This win was absolutely huge for us and it should give us some extra confidence as a group going forward,” Wells said.
“We just need to play some consistent hockey here over the last month of the regular season. We’ve been so up and down that we just need to get into a good rhythm in order to get some good momentum heading into the post-season.”
Dayton Heino scored the game-winning goal and had an assist for the Millionaires, who have a 16-28-0-2 record and are 12 points ahead of the Yorkton Terriers for the 10th and final playoff spot in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
Eric Soar led the way on offence with a goal and two assists, while fellow defenceman Clayton Eisler set up a pair of goals.
Logan Foster had a goal and an assist in the win and Damien Bentz also found the back of the net.
MacGregor Sinclair scored a pair of goals for the North Stars but was forced to leave the game in the third period after a heavy hit along the board by Taylor Elmy that saw him tossed from the contest.
Sinclair was helped to his feet and did not return to action with an undisclosed upper-body injury, with his status up in the air for this week’s slate of home contents.
Taryn Kotchorek turned aside 23 shots and Layne Young had a goal and an assist in the loss, which dropped the North Stars’ record to 34-9-2-0 and puts them eight points back of the Nipawin Hawks in the standings.
They also have an 11-point lead over the Humboldt Broncos for first place in the Global Ag Risk Solutions Division.
A night earlier, the North Stars came out on top over the Estevan Bruins in a shootout by a score of 4-3, as Joel Grzybowski made 35 saves over the course of 65 minutes and stymied all three shooters in the skills competition to improve his record to 12-1 for the season.
“I think I’m a lot better in the mental side of the game this year and I feel more comfortable out there, which I think has a lot to do with me being in my second season with the team,” Grzybowski said.
“They may have had 38 shots on goal, but a lot of them were from the perimeter and the guys did a great job of allowing me to see the puck as it was coming on net.”
Chaseton Braid had the lone goal of the shootout as he made a nifty move in the third round to beat Estevan Bruins goaltender Bo Didur on a backhanded shot.
“It’s a move I’ve been working on quite a bit lately in practice and it had worked pretty well on Taryn and Joel, so I felt confident in trying it tonight,” Braid said.
Young led the way up front with a goal and assist while Elijah Loon-Stewardson and Garan Magnes also found the back of the net.
The Bruins, who have a 26-17-3-2 record and a three-point lead over the Weyburn Red Wings for the Viterra Division lead and third seed for the playoffs, were led on offence by Jake Fletcher as he scored all three of his team’s goals.
Fletcher’s last hat trick came at the Civic Centre on Nov. 19, 2016 when the Bruins won a wild 8-6 affair over the North Stars.
“We feel like these are always big games when we come here as we are two teams who play with similar styles,” Bruins head coach and general manager Chris Lewgood said. “Jake’s someone who has always stepped up for his in big moments and he’s the type of guy that leads the way when we need a spark.
“I thought we played hard all night and matched up with their skill for most of the game, though it’s always tough when you lose in a shootout because you have so little control of what happens there from a team aspect.”
Hayden Guilderson and Kaelan Holt had a pair of assists in the loss for the Bruins, who received a 34-save performance from Didur.
The North Stars will continue their seven-game home stand Tuesday at the Civic Centre when the La Ronge Ice Wolves come to town.
The Weyburn Red Wings will pay a visit Thursday evening and the Ice Wolves will make a return visit Friday.
The home stand will conclude Saturday against the Notre Dame Hounds.
All four games will get underway at 7:30 p.m.
