By Martin Martinson

Stars collide with Klippers

Heavyweight divisional match pits Stars, Klippers

Feb 15, 2019 | 2:45 PM

The Battlefords North Stars return to action tonight, as the team travels to Kindersley to take on the division-rival Klippers, looking to close the gap on the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division leaders.

The North Stars enter action with a 28-13-9 record, good for third in their division with 65 points.

Kindersley sits atop the division and second overall in the league standings with a 32-13-5 record, good for 69 points.

The Klippers rank second to only Nipawin in goals-against this season, having allowed just 118 through 50 games (2.36 goals-against per game). The Stars, meanwhile, have the third-ranked defence at 143 goals against (2.86 goals-against per game).

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The two teams also feature within the top four clubs on the penalty kill, where the North Stars hold a 86.9 per cent efficiency rate, good for second, while the Klippers sit fourth at 85.3 per cent.

Offensively, the North Stars’ top line, featuring the veteran trio of Owen Lamb, MacGregor Sinclair and Braydon Buziak has been lights out as of late, leading the North Stars’ attack.

Lamb is the defending SJHL Player of the Week, having scored three goals, eight points over his last three games.

Braydon Buziak has 10 points over his last four games, While Sinclair has 10 in his last five.

The Stars’ offensive attack, led by the aforementioned three, also has a push from the back end in Cody Spagrud, who ranks fifth amongst defencemen in scoring, and just earlier today, was named a nominee for both SJHL Defenseman of the Year and Player of the Year.

Looking to stand in the way of the North Stars’ offensive arsenal, Kindersley will no doubt rely heavily once again on a standout performance from their man between the pipes.

The Klippers are built around their goaltender, as starter, Justen Close leads all back stoppers with 21 wins this year. Close’s 2.17 goals-against average and .927 save percentage are also top three in the league.

Joel Grzybowski at the other end will make his league-high 39^th start of the season. Also amongst the primer stoppers, Grzybowski has posted a 2.68 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

Grzybowski is coming off a performance Sunday that saw the goalie stand tall for his team in a 4-3 victory over the League-leading Nipawin Hawks.

With a win this evening, and a Humboldt regulation loss, the North Stars can potentially pull even with the Broncos for second in the division with 67 points. The Broncos are in La Ronge tonight.

Fans can catch the North Stars, Klippers action on 1050 CJNB, beginning with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m. on the Napa North Stars hockey broadcast.

North Stars predicted lineup at a glance (Unconfirmed)

Forwards:

B. Buziak, M. Sinclair, O. Lamb

E. Loon-Stewardson, Q. Loon-Stewardson, R. Gil

A. Becker, B. Gammer, D. Heino

K. Boser, R. Doig*, L. Spence

Defencemen:

N. Form, C. Spagrud

S. Summers, M. Fletcher

A. Shumanski, G. Johnson

Goaltenders:

J. Grzybowski

A. Dmyterko

*Making return to lineup off injury

–

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1