For the first time in the 2016-17 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season, the Battlefords North Stars have suffered an overtime loss.
Mike Eskra鈥檚 goal with just 10.9 seconds in the extra frame was the difference as the Weyburn Red Wings brought an end to the North Stars鈥� six-game winning streak as they came away with a 2-1 triumph at the Civic Centre.
鈥淲eyburn has played great against us in all three games that we鈥檝e played them so far this year,鈥� North Stars head coach and general manager Nate Bedford said. 鈥淭hey play tough, they get timely goals, they have good goaltending and they鈥檝e been able to frustrate our guys.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not willing to go to the hard areas against them. Our guys like playing to the outside and it鈥檚 easy for a team like Weyburn to shut you down when you do that.鈥�
Eskra鈥檚 overtime winner was a bit of a redemption moment for the Red Wings captain, as he was on the ice for Coby Downs鈥� late go-ahead goal between the two sides last week in Weyburn.
鈥淲e had a heck of a week of practice after that game and we came out strong tonight,鈥� Eskra said.
鈥淥ur group has been together now since Dec. 1. We didn鈥檛 make any moves at the trade deadline and we鈥檙e looking for consistency now. That鈥檚 going to be the key to move our team in the right direction.鈥�
The Red Wings, who are second in the Viterra Division and sixth in the league standings with a 18-18-1-4 record, also battled through some adversity between the pipes.
After stopping all 27 shots he faced in the first two periods, Carter Phair was forced to leave the game early in the third period after a collision in front of the net with North Stars forward McGregor Sinclair.
Shaun Fleming entered the game cold and made 16 saves to help his team get the win.
鈥淪haun鈥檚 been great for us all season,鈥� Red Wings head coach Wes Rudy said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 flat out won us some games for us this year, and we don鈥檛 expect anything different from him whenever he goes into the game.鈥�
鈥淐arter鈥檚 a competitor so it was tough to see him get hurt, but Shaun was awesome for us when he went in there,鈥� Eskra said. 鈥淲e have full faith in all three of our goalies as they can get the job done.鈥�
Fleming鈥檚 only blemish came early in the third period when Layne Young scored on the power play.
Carson Rose opened the scoring for the Red Wings with a breakaway goal in the second frame.
Joel Grzybowski made 29 saves in the loss for the North Stars, which dropped their record to 33-7-1-0.
The North Stars will look to start a new win streak Saturday when they鈥檒l host the Red Wings again at 7:30 p.m.
