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North Stars’ inconsistent effort leads to loss vs. Bruins

Sep 25, 2016 | 9:24 AM

The North Stars’ match-up with the Estevan Bruins was a lot of things: fast paced at times, physical at others, and in the end a very close tilt.

But perhaps most of all, at least for the North Stars, Saturday’s 4-3 loss against the Bruins at the Civic Centre was frustrating.

The Stars sometimes looked flashy, speedy and dangerous, while they’d also give the puck away in the slot, get hemmed in their own zone for large chunks of time, or try to make cute plays when it wasn’t the smart thing to do.

Consistency is something head coach Nate Bedford has stressed all season, and it was clear why as the North Stars final push to tie the game ultimately fell short despite two third period goals, one each from Keaton Holinaty and Layne Young.

“It’s been a little bit frustrating but we’re going to be fine,” Bedford said following the game. “We’ve got good kids. We’ve got good talent.

“I think we’re trying to figure out what our identity is. It’s going to happen. We’re not too far off so we’ll be alright,” he said.

Bedford said landing better quality shots on net will also be a focus going forward.

On Saturday, the shot tally favoured the North Stars 39-29.

“Just throwing pucks on net isn’t going to be good enough,” he said. “We’ve got to put pucks on net with some conviction. We’ll do a better job of that.”

Meanwhile, the Bruins’ win jumps them into first place in the Viterra Division, with a 3-1-0 record.

“Tonight’s win was all about guts,” Bruins head coach Chris Lewgood said following his team’s road win. “We’re under-skilled compared to the Stars and with the amount of returning players they have we’re probably a little less organized than they are. At the end of the day it came down to the work ethic and our guys skated all night long.”

Looking particularly dangerous for the Bruins was the duo of Kaelan Holt and Matt McNeil. Holt had a pair of deflection goals and an assist, while McNeil had a powerplay goal and an assist on Holt’s second goal.

Both the North Stars and Bruins will travel to Warman on Sunday for the annual SJHL showcase, where all 12 teams travel to a neutral location to play a pair of games in front of scouts. All games count towards regular season standings.

The North Stars play the Melfort Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, followed by the Melville Millionaires on Monday at 12:30 p.m.

 

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11