North Stars fall to defending champs in extra time

Slicing onto the attack, Gil proved to have the hands to match his aggressive mindset. After dazzling his way past the first man, and while changing speeds in flight, Gil managed to corral the puck, seemingly attached to his blade by a thread, from out well in front of him and in toward his body; before then hauling it back further still, toe dragging the frozen piece of rubber around the last man’s stick, just in time to reach around the goaltender and get a shot away.

Unfortunately for Gil, and for North Stars’ fans, who at this point were on their feet collectively, gasping in amazement at the effort put on display, the goaltender, Pugliese was in an undeniable zone and would catch a break courtesy of his precision focus, and cat-like reflexes, just getting across in time to thwart the dangerous scoring bid.

Despite some great offensive ventures, and several close calls, the Battlefords North Stars fell 2-1 in the shootout Wednesday night to the defending league champion, Nipawin Hawks.

With time dwindling down in a scoreless first period, Austen Flaman, would score to make it 1-0 for the Hawks. For Flaman, the tally added to his team scoring lead, and pulled the forward into a tie for the goal scoring lead as well, notching his third goal of the season, and ninth point on the year. Flaman, a second-year SJHL veteran from Emerald Park, Sask., has only been held off the scoresheet in one game this year, and is well on his way to eclipsing last year’s mark of 15 points in 40 games played with the Yorkton Terriers.

Despite some good chances each way, the goaltender showdown continued well into the second period. In fact, the middle frame of action would script itself pretty much as a carbon-copy of the first, with neither team able to parlay their offensive surges onto the scoreboard until well inside the final minute of play.

For the North Stars, it was a late period power play that presented their opportunity to strike. After pressing the attack for an extended period of time, and with the second intermission fast approaching, Seth Summers relayed the puck to Ryan Gil, who then proceeded to thread the needle cross-seem for defenceman Matthew Fletcher who had creeped down on the left-hand side as a right-handed shot to open himself up for the one-timer from point-blank range to beat the goaltender. The goal was Fletcher’s first of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Stars.

After no scoring in the third, or in the five minutes of three-on-three overtime, that meant a shootout was deemed necessary to determine the winner. True to form, both netminders were solid in the penalty shot relay, but at the end of the night, all that was needed was a lone goal from Eric Sorensen to seal the victory for the visitors.

The North Stars will get a shot at redemption Friday night when the team travels to Nipawin for the back-half of their home-and-home series with the Hawks. Fans can catch the pregame at 7:15 p.m. leading into puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

19:56 NIP Austen Flaman (3) ASST: Eric Sorensen (1), Jeremy Bisson (2)

Second period:

19:17 BAT Matthew Fletcher (1) ASST: Ryan Gil (4), Seth Summers (2) (PP)

Third period:

No scoring

Overtime:

No scoring

—

Shootout:

BAT M. Sinclair: No Goal

NIP E. Sorensen: Goal

BAT M. Urbanski: No Goal

NIP A. Flaman: No Goal

BAT R. Gil: No Goal

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

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by Martin Martinson

North Stars fall to defending champs in extra time

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