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Weyburn poses solid challenge for North Stars

Mar 15, 2017 | 5:00 PM

It may be the first place team against the eighth place team on paper, but the Battlefords North Stars know they have their hands full in their first playoff matchup.

The Weyburn Red Wings split the season series with Battlefords, winning 4-3 in October and 2-1 in overtime in January, while falling to the North Stars 2-1 twice in January, once at home and once at the Civic Centre.

That means every single head-to-head matchup this season was a one-goal game.

“They’re a team that’s willing to block shots and make it hard on other teams,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said about the upcoming series. “They [had] good goaltending through all the four games we played them. I think they match lines real well. I just think they played four real good 60-minute hockey games. When things weren’t easy we found it tough to fight through that adversity so kudos to them.”

Weyburn finished the season one game below .500 with a 25-26-3-4 record. That pales in comparison to the North Stars franchise best mark of 48-9-1.

“I think they’re better than their record [indicates],” Bedford said, adding once again how important blocking shots can be. “Weyburn likes blocking shots…it’s gutsy to block a shot 15 feet off the puck. It’s a lot different than blocking a shot two feet off. Usually when it’s 15 feet off, the puck can go anywhere, it can get you high and you have no idea where the puck is going to go. When you block a shot two feet off, it’s usually going to hit a shin pad. So I really like that side of them, that they’re willing to block shots.”

As much trouble as Battlefords had with getting shots through against Weyburn, they did manage 35 shots on goal per game, but only scored eight times on those 140 shots. The North Stars averaged 41.7 shots on goal per game during the regular season against the rest of the league.

And Bedford made it clear it’s about more than just “getting shots through.”

Wings goaltender Carter Phair posted a .922 save percentage this season and has a .971 mark in two and a half games against Kindersley in the playoffs. He left the third game halfway through after getting run into but he is expected to play against the North Stars.

“Phair is a pretty good goalie. If we just get pucks through he’s just going to gobble them up and get whistles and they’re good on faceoffs,” Bedford said. “The key is realizing that they’re going to work hard and we’ve got to make sure we match that and work harder than them. They block shots and so do we, so that’ll be a good matchup. I think they play well defensively, so do we, that’ll be a good matchup. I think goaltending is going to be a good matchup. I think if you win more matchups than you lose, I think you’re successful.

“It’s going to be a good, tough, long series with Weyburn and we’re prepared for it.”

A look at the numbers

In the head-to-head games, one area that struggled for the North Stars other than getting shots through was their power play, which went just 1-for-20.

Assistant coach Braeden Johnson, who runs the power play, isn’t worried.

“We’re not really concerned about it at all,” he said. “I think the guys have a new focus and that’s the way we approach things. I don’t think we look at the past too much so that 1-for-20 stuff is kind of behind us.”

Bedford agrees, adding that he felt at the time (the North Stars played Weyburn three times in a two-week stretch in early January), the power play wasn’t at its best, and now it is.

“I think [at the time] we did everything on the perimeter,” Bedford said. “We didn’t get anything to the inside and we were playing with a three-man unit on a five-man setup and I just don’t think you can be successful that way. So I think more guys need to touch the puck and if guys aren’t touching the puck, then it’s not a power play, [and] we might as well decline [them].”

The penalty kill was solid in the four games, killing off 15 of 17 penalties. That is nothing new, as the penalty kill for Battlefords finished the season going 66-for-70 in their final 14 games, for a 94.3 per cent kill rate. It finished the season easily in first place, at an 89.1 per cent rate overall.

Time off no excuse

After the Toronto Maple Leafs got blown out by the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night 7-2, reporters asked whether them having no practice Sunday and no gameday skate on Tuesday had anything to do with their piss-poor performance.

The answer from players was a resounding no and that’s the same case for the North Stars, although they’ve had nearly two full weeks off.

“It’s a little tough to keep focused but I think these next couple practices and days we’re going to definitely be dialed in and ready to go,” North Stars defenceman Connor Sych said after practice.

Both Sych and veteran defenceman Zach Nedelec agreed there aren’t really any significant weaknesses on this team.

“The only time there would be a weakness is if we got into our own heads,” Nedelec said.

Forward Coby Downs agreed about focus and the mental side of the game being important.

“If we play hard, we’ll do fine,” Downs said. “Sometimes we take advantage of that and just use our skill and don’t need to work as hard.

“We just need to make sure we don’t do that and just play hard every game.”

Game one of the best 4-of-7 series is Friday night at the Civic Centre with game two set for Saturday night, also at home.

 

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

@NathanKanter11