North Stars can’t muster much offence in 4-1 loss to Hawks
It started out with plenty of action, but in the end the Nipawin Hawks dulled down Friday’s contest and beat the Battlefords North Stars 4-1 at the Civic Centre.
The North Stars came out strong, outshooting the Hawks 10-7 in the first, but found themselves trailing 2-1 on the scoreboard after 20 minutes.
“In the first, everyone wanted to support the puck and we were winning races and we had that good cycle game,” North Stars head coach Brandon Heck said after the club’s eighth regulation loss of the season through 41 games. “In the second and third, we were working average — to be polite — so you’re not going to get that forecheck. They’re stacking the neutral zone and if we’re not going to make a smart dump and get to it with speed, they’re just going to break out. Lots of times we would have three or four guys buying in and you need all five to beat a good team.”
The good news, according to Heck, was that all four of the Hawks goals were scored following mistakes the North Stars made.