The same old issues plagued the Battlefords AAA Stars Tuesday night at the Civic Centre.
Ill advised penalties proved to be costly for the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League team as they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Saskatoon Blazers.
鈥淲e deserved every penalty that we got tonight,鈥� Stars head coach Jean Fauchon said. 鈥淚t was selfish play on over half of the penalties that we had.
鈥淚t caused us to lose the momentum that we had built up and if we want to have any success here, we need to play a game where we stay out of the box. It鈥檚 starting to become really frustrating, especially with a game that we should have won as instead of being a point out of fifth, we鈥檙e now a point out of 11th 辫濒补肠别.鈥�
A play that summed up the night for the Stars occurred late in the third period, when Jordan Mish received a four-minute penalty for butt-ending a Blazers forward prior to the face-off.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the type of thing that I鈥檓 talking about,鈥� Fauchon said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be taking a penalty like that, especially when we鈥檙e down 3-2.
鈥淣ow we find ourselves down by a couple of goals and in a tough situation to pull the goalie. You can鈥檛 have that.鈥�
It was the fourth straight loss for the Stars, who have a 12-17-2 record and are in a tie with the Swift Current Legionnaires for the eighth and final playoff spot in the SMAAAHL standings.
With the win, the Blazers are now in a tie with the Beardy鈥檚 Blackhawks for 10th place and are only a point behind the Legionnaires and Stars.
Luke Reid led the way on offence for the Stars as he scored 22 seconds into the game and also had an assist on Adam Beckman鈥檚 goal in the second period.
The Blazers offence was a two-pronged attack as Braden Krzak and Jaydon Dureau both had a pair of goals.
鈥淚 really like the way we responded to the physical play that Battleford brought,鈥� Blazers head coach Randy Smith said. 鈥淲e made some adjustments and we were able to adapt to their forechecking.
鈥淐onsistency is the biggest thing for us right now at this point of the season. There are times that we play well for a period, but then we lose focus. We鈥檙e a team that can鈥檛 play anything other than 60 minutes.鈥�
Battlefords North Stars defensive prospect Matthew Fletcher had two assists in the win.
Next up for the Stars is a road game Sunday afternoon against the Blackhawks.
