The Battlefords North Stars run of 13 straight Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League victories began with a convincing 10-3 win over the Estevan Bruins on Oct. 15 in Estevan.
In their first meeting since that encounter, the Bruins gained a huge measure of revenge.
The Bruins scored four unanswered goals in the third period at the Civic Centre Saturday night, as they came away with an 8-6 victory and brought an end to the North Stars win streak.
鈥淲e really wanted to snap their streak and prove that we could beat them after we lost 10-3 to them in our home rink,鈥� Bruins forward Jake Fletcher said.
鈥淭here was a lot of adversity through the game and a lot of special teams opportunities for both sides. We just kept our cool in the third period and just drove to the net, which paid off for us.鈥�
Saturday鈥檚 wild affair wasn鈥檛 typical of the North Stars, as the eight goals they allowed were the most they have given up in a game since a 9-0 loss to the Kindersley Klippers in Game 1 of the 2015 SJHL quarter-finals.
It also marked the first time they gave up more than five goals in a game since Game 5 of last year鈥檚 semifinals, when they lost 6-5 in double overtime to the Flin Flon Bombers.
鈥淲e got into a run-and-gun game with a run-and-gun team,鈥� North Stars general manager and head coach Nate Bedford said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 play our style of game against them.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those games where it wasn鈥檛 our true identity and I think it鈥檒l be easier for the guys to deal with. They鈥檒l be able to grasp pretty quickly as they know what didn鈥檛 go well tonight.鈥�
The Bruins showed a great amount of resiliency against the North Stars, as they erased two-goal deficits on three separate occasions.
鈥淲e were able to execute at key times,鈥� Bruins general manager and head coach Chris Lewgood said. 鈥淗ad this game gone another three periods, who knows how many goals would have been scored between both of us.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 come back from multiple two-goal deficits without having some courage. Our guys care about each other and they were able to dig in and help each other out.鈥�
Fletcher led the way for the Bruins with a hat trick while Michael McChesney scored a pair of goals and had an assist in the wild affair.
Matt McNeill had a goal and two assists in the win. Zach Goberis and Josh Reiger both had a goal and an assist each, with Reiger鈥檚 third period shot from the slot proving to be the game-winner.
Connor Sych paced the North Stars鈥� offence in the loss as he scored a goal and had two assists.
Coby Downs and Keaton Holinaty had a goal and an assist each, while Layne Young and Troy Gerein also scored.
Curtis Meger made 43 saves for the Bruins in the win while Joel Grzybowski turned aside 32 shots in a losing effort.
The North Stars鈥� win streak almost came to an end Friday at the Civic Centre as they escaped with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Melfort Mustangs.
Holinaty scored the lone goal for the North Stars in regulation with a top-shelf power play snipe in the second period. He also found the back of the net in the shootout along with teammate Connor Logan.
鈥淲e were a little bit rough around the edges tonight, which has happened often against lower placed teams,鈥� Holinaty said.
鈥淚t takes us awhile to find our spark, but we were able to come out with the win.鈥�
North Stars goaltender Taryn Kotchorek made 17 saves in regulation and improved to 3-0 in shootouts this year by turning aside Matthew Hermary and Reed Gunville.
鈥淲e practice the shootouts quite a bit and I have to give a lot of credit to our assistant coach Braeden Johnson,鈥� Kotchorek said. 鈥淗e shoots on me regularly along with the players, and that allows you to get used to that situation.鈥�
Evan Plotnik was stellar in a losing effort for the visitors as he made 42 saves.
Dakota Boutin tied the game in the third period and was the only Mustangs player to solve Kotchorek in the shootout.
The North Stars, who now have a 21-5-0-0 record and lead the Bruins by three points in the race for first place in the SJHL standings, will be back in action Wednesday night as they visit the Humboldt Broncos.
They will return to the Civic Centre Friday evening for a 7:30 p.m. meeting with the Notre Dame Hounds.
