By battlefordsNOW Staff

North Stars drop final reg. season game in Nipawin to Hawks

Mar 10, 2018 | 1:34 AM

It was a game that at one point could have meant a lot, but in the end didn’t have any implications on the final standings whatsoever.

Regardless, the 15 combined affiliate players on both sides put on a solid showing in the Battlefords North Stars final regular season game against the Nipawin Hawks, where the North Stars came up just short 5-3.

The loss means they finish the regular season with a record of 42-14-2, locked into the second seed (as they have been for quite some time).

The Hawks got two goals each from veterans Michael Grant and Grant Baetsen, but call-up Adam Beckman, a Spokane Chiefs prospect who led the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League in scoring as a member of the AAA Stars, shined bright with an assist on Baetsen’s game-winning shorthanded goal and notched a goal of his own in the first period on a power play.

On the North Stars side, Meadow Lake’s own Dylan Esau, a teammate of Beckman’s in AAA, scored his first career Junior A goal as well, while veteran Brad Girard had the other two goals.

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The North Stars overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2, but Baetsen’s shorthanded marker halfway through the third period stood up as the game-winner, with him also adding the empty netter on a power play in the dying seconds to seal the deal.

Affiliate Jake Davidson made 29 saves on 33 shots in net for the North Stars.

Not dressing for the North Stars on Friday were a total of 10 regulars: Layne Young, MacGregor Sinclair, Keith Anderson, Levi Kleiboer, Cody Spagrud, Taryn Kotchorek, Cole Johnson, Matthias Urbanski, Tre Doyon, and Parker Smyth. Conor Jensen and Troy Gerein also did not play because of injury.

The Hawks also scratched a number of veterans, including defenceman of the year Josh McDougall, 31-goal man Brandon Arnold, Brett Harasymuk, Logan Casavant, and captain Carter Doerksen.

As far as playoff implications go, Weyburn defeated Yorkton on the final night of the regular season to hop Notre Dame for seventh place. That means Weyburn will host the Melville Millionaires in one survivor series, while Notre Dame faces off against Flin Flon in the other survivor series. 

The North Stars will face the highest remaining seed in their quarter-final series, meaning they get Weyburn if the Red Wings win, and they’ll get the winner of the other series if Melville manages to upset the Wings.

The quarter-finals are expected to start Friday, March 16, however that won’t be confirmed until early next week.

More to come.

cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @BattlefordsNOW