By Nathan Kanter

North Stars squeak out 6-5 win in game 2 over Wings

Mar 17, 2018 | 11:29 PM

Game two between the Battlefords North Stars and Weyburn Red Wings on Saturday night was certainly supposed to be much closer than game one, but for North Stars fans, it was a little bit too close for comfort.

The defending champions nearly blew a 6-3 lead in the third period, but were able to hold on for a 6-5 win and take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-7 quarter-final.

“A win is a win but we were lucky. A lot of selfish plays out there today,” North Stars head coach Brandon Heck said in the post-game interview on CJNB/CJNS. “I was pretty angry after the game to be honest. You’ve got the game under total control and then it’s a bounce away from going to overtime.

“[In] the third we were going good. We had it locked down and then we just take a dumb penalty.”

In total, the North Stars were shorthanded eight times and Weyburn’s power play connected three times, including on a 5-on-3.

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With the game at 6-3 six minutes into the third period because of Chaseton’s Braid second of the playoffs, Wings forward Jordan Kazymyra responded with a goal just 17 seconds later to get to within two goals.

Then Braid took a cross-checking penalty with just over two minutes left, and the Wings scored five seconds into that power play to make it 6-5.

“Our penalty kill didn’t clear pucks,” he said. “We picked the wrong time to be aggressive and then in front of our net we got outnumbered just by not getting back there.”

Battlefords had five power play opportunities themselves, but couldn’t capitalize.

When asked how much the officiating had to do with the final score, Heck said it’s not an excuse.

“The message to the guys in the third period was all four games [across the league] had a ton of penalties in it so…they’re going to call lots,” Heck said. “When you get a few tough calls against you, you can’t get even angrier. You’ve got to rally as a team.”

In game one, the North Stars penalty kill was solid, as it went 5-for-6.

Heck said selfishness was evident in more ways than just undisciplined play.

“Yesterday we were playing for each other. Today we were playing for ourselves a lot more,” he said. “Little things like driving the net to open up your buddy going wide or screening for a shot. Yesterday we did a lot of those dirty things. We put pride in that. The only thing we cleaned up [tonight] was faceoffs.”

The North Stars did outshoot Weyburn 43-24 in the game, including 20-6 in the first.

They also got goals from six different players: Layne Young, Garan Magnes, MacGregor Sinclair, Brad Girard, Keith Anderson, and Chaseton Braid.

Young finished with a three-point night and turned momentum with the team’s second shorthanded marker of the series.

“It was nice to get a shorthanded goal again,” Heck said. “It makes you feel a little bit better for the penalty kill, but it’s definitely got to be better.”

The North Stars will have a couple days to regroup ahead of road contests for games three and four, as those are set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

The team will head down south on Monday.

“The biggest lesson for tonight is we overcame taking eight penalties to win,” Heck said. “We’ve got to stay out of the box. It’s a good power play over there. You can’t give them eight chances or you’ve got to sore six to win.”

NorSask North Stars hockey begins on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. with the Ultra Print pre-game show on CJNB/CJNS.

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11