The Battlefords North Stars front office staff did their homework in recruiting players from outside the province for the 2015-16 SJHL season, and while it’s only been one pre-season game so far, it appears they did a pretty good job.
Minnesota-born defenceman Conor Jensen scored twice, California native Coby Downs added another and Wainwright’s Brant Saretsky scored the overtime winner as the North Stars defeated the Kindersley Klippers 4-3 Tuesday night at the Civic Centre.
It didn’t take long for the North Stars to take lead as, just 2:01 into the opening frame, Jensen gathered the puck from below his own goal line, skated through the neutral zone while making a pair of nice moves to get around forecheckers before wiring a slapshot over the glove of Klippers goalie Justen Close.
That brought the crowd of over 300 fans to their feet, but the Klippers didn’t waste much time quieting them down.
Just 2:56 after Jensen’s goal, the Klippers carried the puck into the offensive zone before Dylann McCann threw the puck towards the net and Chaseton Sare jammed it past Taryn Kotchorek to tie the game.
The two teams traded penalties through the first, but it was the North Stars taking advantage.
Just seven seconds after Kelby Picard was charged for interference, Layne Young won the faceoff back to Jensen at the point and his wrist shot eluded the maze of bodies in front of the net, before hitting the post and going in to restore the North Stars lead.
The shots after the first period were 14-10 in favour of the North Stars.
The North Stars had another power play opportunity early in the second when Liam Cumberbirch was sent off for hooking at 4:01, but couldn’t capitalize.
Five minutes later, Downs extended the North Stars lead. The puck came to him on the left wing and he found himself on a 2-on-0 break into the Klippers zone.
Downs elected to hold the puck, faking to the backhand before going to his forehand and stuffing it past a sprawling Close to make it 3-1 North Stars.
Once again, it didn’t take long for the Klippers to respond. Vancouver native Nash Dabb was sent to the box for interference at 10:24, and just 12 seconds after the puck was dropped Kurtis Gamble one-timed the puck from the point, beating Kotchorek to cut the lead to 3-2.
In the third period, the North Stars nearly regained their two-goal lead when the puck squeaked through the pads of Close, but Cumberbirch was standing in the crease and quickly gathered the puck and fired it out of danger.
Special teams came into play again, when Saretsky was sent to the box for hooking at 11:36. The Klippers had good puck control in the North Stars zone, but weren’t generating any shots.
Then, upon hearing someone from his bench telling him to shoot the puck, Cumberbirch threw the puck towards the goal from the blueline and Landon Longmire deflected it in the high slot, fooling Kotchorek as the puck went five-hole to tie the game at three.
The Klippers had two chances on late power plays to take the lead, as North Battleford natives Josh Shynkaruk and Jayden Nachtegaele were given penalties almost back-to-back, but the Klippers couldn’t find the back of the net.
After 33 seconds of powerplay in overtime, the teams returned to 4-on-4 and the North Stars ended the game.
Nearly a minute and a half into the extra frame, Saretsky came in on 2-on-1, kept the puck and fired it over the blocker of Close to atone for his penalty that had led to the tying goal.
The win was a confidence booster for the players in the lineup, as the majority of them were players looking crack the North Stars roster this season.
The team is now off for a few days before heading to Wainwright to take on this year’s RBC Cup hosts, the Lloydminster Bobcats, in the first of two games against the Alberta Junior Hockey League team this weekend.
After Friday’s game, the North Stars head to the Border City for the second game Saturday night.
