The Battlefords North Stars faced an opponent this weekend they won’t play again this season, unless they reach the RBC Cup championship in May.
The North Stars were pushed to the limits by the Lloydminster Bobcats in the two games, which took place in Wainwright Friday before shifting to the Border City Saturday.
Friday, the North Stars got off on the right foot by opening the scoring nearly four minutes into the game.
After Connor Sych took a hard slap shot that hit the post, the rebound bounced right to his defence partner Ryan Rosenberg who blasted a slap shot of his own past the goaltender to give the North Stars the lead.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as just a few minutes later Taylor Lotoski beat Ryan Rewerts on a perfectly placed wrist shot on a two-on-two rush, firing the puck off the far post over Rewerts’ blocker.
Seven minutes into the second period, Rewerts kept the score tied by making a pad save on a three-on-one rush for the Bobcats. Lloydminster kept up the pressure, including hitting the cross bar on a slap shot 12:38 into the period, and it finally paid off when a high shot handcuffed Rewerts, as the rebound dropped to his right which Zac Giroux was easily able to deposit into the empty net to give the Bobcats the lead.
The North Stars had trouble generating offense in the second, as they registered just five shots on goal. The third period didn’t start off good, either.
Just 1:09 into the frame, Kevin Darrar took a backhand shot from in close that beat Rewerts low on the blocker side to extend the Bobcats lead to 3-1.
The North Stars goaltender did all he could to keep his team in the game, including making a pair of great saves on one-timer slap shots mid way through the period.
After a few penalties, the Bobcats finally took advantage when Marco Ballarin walked in from the faceoff circle and beat Rewerts low-blocker side to make it 4-1.
The North Stars had plenty of power play chances of their own, but finished the game going 0-for-6.
Saturday, the North Stars iced a lineup with more veteran players, but it didn’t help the end result as they dropped a 3-0 decision.
The Bobcats put the pressure on the North Stars all night, both offensively and defensively, not allowing them to have much puck control.
A scoreless first period ended with the North Stars getting a late power play thanks to some great puck control deep in the Bobcats zone by Layne Young.
Jordan Wiest had a good chance to give the North Stars the lead when he skated through the neutral zone and fired quick shot on Bobcats goalie Alex Leclerc who made a good glove save early in the period.
Nearly four minutes into the period, the North Stars caught an unfortunate break. Igor Leonenko scored off a rebound, but Dustin Gorgi was given a penalty for cross checking the Bobcats defenceman into his own goaltender, negating the goal.
While the Bobcats failed to score on that power play, they would get one later in the period when Noah Bauld deflected a chest-high shot past Rewerts to open the scoring.
A few minutes later, the Bobcats extended their lead after a shot from the slot was deflected over top of the net. The puck bounced off the glass and landed beside the goal, and Bauld grabbed the puck before pulling it across his body to the backhand and beating Rewerts on the blocker side.
North Stars defenseman Conor Jensen had an excellent opportunity to cut into the lead when he received a breakaway pass after exiting the penalty box. He faked to the backhand before going to his forehand, but Leclerc made a sprawling save, getting his pad against the post to prevent a goal.
Frustration started to boil over for the North Stars as the period went on, which started with Wiest and Josh Giacomon sliding into the North Stars goal after a collision. The two began throwing punches before being escorted to the penalty box.
Just 10 seconds later, Gorgi ended up on top of Graydon Smith with an official doing his best to get between the two to prevent Gorgi from hitting Smith while he couldn’t defend himself.
The Bobcats ended up with a power play, and got the last laugh when Unity native Alex Pernitsky rifled a wrist shot over the blocker of Rewerts to make it 3-0.
Late in the game, Jensen was hit hard with an open-ice check in front of the North Stars bench, which brought the two teams together again.
Shortly after the next faceoff, a pair of fights broke out as Kendall Fransoo and Wiest both dropped the gloves with Bobcats players.
The players were separated and the clock wound down to signal a 3-0 defeat for the North Stars.
The team is now off for the rest of the week until Friday when they travel to Humboldt to take on the Broncos.
They then return home Saturday for their final pre-season game against those same Broncos.
