AAA Stars continue climb up the standings

“Today, we didn’t play as well as we should have but we were able to capitalize on the chances we did get,” Fauchon said in a phone interview on Sunday. “Yesterday, we played a pretty solid game. We were on them, forechecking the way that we have for the last little while and we were playing well.”

The difference was evident in the shot totals.

In Saturday’s win, which ended in a shootout, the Stars handily outshot the Yorkton Maulers 39-28. Power play goals from Yorkton tide it up twice in the third, however, first at 2-2, and then at 3-3.

Eventually, Stars defenceman Luke Reid scored the shootout winner – the only one to convert on either side in the shootout to get Battlefords their first win of the weekend.

“We got into some penalty trouble, not any fault of our own – it’s just the reffing wasn’t that great – which allowed them to tie it up twice,” Fauchon said. “But we knew that if we could just keep going and play our game, we knew we would be successful despite what was happening. So that was a group effort.”

Outshooting the opponent by a significant margin was fairly new for the Stars, and Fauchon felt it actually should have been even more lopsided.

“I think we even had a few more than what was put on the scoreboard there – there were a few times when they weren’t marking them down,” he said. “We were on them constantly – putting pucks on net, traffic in front but we were just willing to do whatever it took to get the puck.”

On Sunday, the shots completely reversed, as the Stars were outshot 42-22.

But backup goaltender Joseph Young was up to the task, making 39 saves and getting the win without needing extra time.

The Stars also scored in almost every way possible – once shorthanded, once on the power play and twice at even strength. Entering the third, it was 4-1 for Battlefords, thanks to two goals from Mackenzie Donovan, one from Tyson Meyers, and one from Tye Scherger.

“Both our goaltenders played well, obviously. Lance [Alm] in the first game and Joe [Young] today,” Fauchon said. “Power plays were a big part of yesterday’s game and today as well. So it’s clicking. We’re getting people moving the puck well and getting shots on net.”

The Stars close out their 2016 schedule with two tough games, both at home, against the Regina Pat Canadians. Regina is in second with an 18-2-0-1 record.

“We haven’t seen them yet this year but it’s going to be tough,” Fauchon said. “They’re going to come ready to play so we need to make sure that we’re on our game and we just continue to play the way we’ve been playing the last few weeks.

“We’ll see what happens from there.”

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

by Nathan Kanter

AAA Stars continue climb up the standings

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