Devin Case scored his first two goals of the season, one of which was the game-winning goal in overtime, as the Kindersley Klippers edged the Battlefords North Stars 3-2 Tuesday night at the Civic Centre.
With the loss, the North Stars fell to 1-1-2-0 against the Klippers so far this season. The loss also snapped the North Stars' four-game winning streak. North Stars head coach and general manager Kevin Hasselberg said they "clearly outplayed" the Klippers despite the loss.
"We felt that we deserved that hockey game," he said. "There were two glaring mistakes that ended up in the back of our net."
Kindersley had the first chance to open the scoring in the game. Case stole the puck with his team shorthanded and broke down the left wing into the North Stars' zone. He snapped the puck on net, but it went right into the chest of North Stars goaltender Spencer Tremblay.
As that penalty expired, North Stars forward Matthew Saharchuk broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal. He recovered the puck behind the net, wrapped around the net and tucked it past Klippers goaltender Evan Weninger 3:55 into the first period. It was Saharkchuk's fourth goal of the season.
Less than two minutes later, the Klippers evened the score. Owen LaClare was strong on the forecheck and forced North Stars defenceman Jake Erickson into a turnover. LaClare took the puck, cut in front of the net and slid the puck through Tremblay 5:10 into the opening frame. It was LaClare's fourth goal for the Klippers, all of which have been at the Civic Centre.
Later in the first, North Stars forward Reed Delainey through a shot on net on the rush. Weninger made the save, but gave up a big rebound. Saharchuk pounced on the rebound, but was turned aside again by Weninger.
With 12 minutes to play in the first, Tremblay made an athletic save to keep the game tied at one. On a rush into the North Stars' zone, Graham Lanigan lifted a pass across the zone to Baxter Kanter, who was fighting off a North Stars defenceman. Kanter deked back to the left post, but Tremblay stuck his right leg against the post to keep the puck out of the net.
The North Stars amped up the pressure in the second period. Early in the frame, Nick Fountain fired a shot on net, but it was blocked. Jackson Bond found the loose puck and backhanded a shot on net, but Weninger slid over and made the stop with his shoulder.
Tensions boiled over between the two teams late in the second period. As Klippers forward Ryley Bosman was taking a penalty for high sticking, North Stars defenceman Kendall Fransoo took exception to the play and dropped the gloves. Both players got a few good punches in before Bosman scored the takedown. Both players received fighting majors and a game misconduct.
Despite not scoring in the second period, the North Stars continued to pepper Weninger with shots in the frame. They added 20 shots in the second period, bringing their two-period total to 38.
The North Stars regained the lead less than four minutes into the third period. On a rush into the zone, Reed Delainey skated to the middle of the zone and found a trailing Brady O'Sullivan, who snapped the puck past Weninger for his fourth goal of the season. The line of Saharchuk, Delainey and O'Sullivan has combined for 11 goals and 23 points so far this season.
Before the fans had a chance to completely celebrate the goal, the Klippers tied the game 30 seconds later after a bad deflection. Case shot the puck toward the net and it hit a player, redirecting the shot slowly on net. Tremblay was playing the shot and did not pick up the redirection until it was too late as the puck trickled across the line.
Both teams had chances to end the game in regulation, but were unable to capitalize. North Stars forward Jordan Townsend found a loose puck close to the Klippers' goal. He tried to make a move on Weninger, but the Kindersley keeper was not fooled and made the save.
Kindersley's best chance came on a bad line change from the North Stars. As the defence left the ice, two Klippers broke into the zone with no defender near them. Stefen Seel passed the puck across for Case, but it was too far in front of the Klippers forward.
As the third period wrapped up, North Stars defenceman Connor Vermeulen was given a penalty for high sticking with 13 seconds remaining.
The penalty overlapped into the overtime period, creating a 4-on-3 chance for the Klippers for the first 1:47 of extra time. However, the North Stars were able to kill off the penalty and looked to gain momentum from their defence.
Then, midway through the overtime period, North Stars defenceman Michael Statchuk turned the puck over to Case. He made no mistake and snapped the puck past Tremblay to give the Klippers the 3-2 win.
It was the fifth game the North Stars have played that needed overtime or a shootout to determine the winner. Hasselberg said the team is still developing a "killer instinct" to finish teams off in regulation.
"We had a chance to take the lead against that hockey team and maybe extend that lead to more than a couple goals and we've got to capitalize on scoring chances. We had some really good opportunities in all three periods to put the puck in the back of the net. We've got the skill to do it. We just have to bear down on our chances."
Tremblay stopped 26 shots while picking up his third loss of the year for the North Stars. Weninger made 43 saves to earn his third win of the season for the Klippers. Hasselberg said Weninger was the difference in Tuesday night's game.
"When you have a goaltender playing as confident as Weninger is then they can come in here and basically steal points and that's all that happened tonight."
The North Stars (4-1-2-0) hit the road again Friday to take on the Hawks in Nipawin. They play again Saturday night in Flin Flon against the Bombers. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.
The North Stars return to the Civic Centre Oct. 14 to face off against the La Ronge Ice Wolves. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
