Stars' forward, Owen Lamb is greeted by teammates following his shootout winning goal Saturday against the Estevan Bruins. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW) : Martin Martinson

By Martin Martinson

Stars solve shootout woes

Stars play spoiler in Estevan, nab first shootout win

Feb 24, 2019 | 8:57 AM

Coming off a 5-1 win over Weyburn Friday to start the weekend, the Battlefords North Stars kept their momentum rolling. They defeated the Estevan Bruins at Affinity Place in Estevan Saturday 3-2 in a shootout.

With the victory, the North Stars close the gap on the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division lead as they now sit tied with Humboldt for second in points with 72. The Stars hold a game in hand on the Broncos while also moving just a single point back of Kindersley.

Austin Becker opened the scoring Saturday night just under three minutes into the first, notching his seventh of the year and second in two games.

The Stars’ lead would not last long, however, with Estevan taking just two minutes to tie things up 1-1 on the strength of a Jayden Davis shorthanded tally for his 13^th goal of the season.

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Eddie Gallagher would reverse the lead entirely in favor of the home side prior to the end of the second scoring his seventh of the campaign from Ryder Pierson and Tyson Manz to make it 2-1 Estevan.

The Stars, still trailing by one in the third period, pulled the goalie in the final 60 seconds of the game. Six attackers in the mix offensively were determined to leave it all on the line and it wasn’t until the last 30 seconds the Stars were able to break through. Ryan Gil would be the man to cash in, potting his 18th of the season and second in two nights to force over time.

Despite five total shots between the two sides in the extra frame, three-on-three OT would solve nothing leading to a shootout to decide the fate of the night.

After a scoreless first five rounds in the shootout, the North Stars would cap their comeback and pull out the full two points in victory thanks to forward Owen Lamb who snapped the puck home to tip the scales in his team’s favour.

Stars’ goaltender Joel Grzybowski stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced on the night including a perfect 5-for-5 in the shootout.

The North Stars will return to action for their third game of the weekend Sunday when the team travels to Wilcox to take on the division-rival Notre Dame Hounds.

Fans can catch Sunday’s game 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 on 1050 CJNB.

Scoring summary

First period:

No scoring

Second period:

2:51 BAT Austin Becker (7) ASST: Austin Shumanski (5)

4:52 EST Jayden Davis (13) ASST: None

17:12 EST Eddie Gallagher (7) ASST: Ryder Pierson (5), Tyson Manz (9)

Third period:

19:27 BAT Ryan Gil (18) ASST: Quintin Loon-Stewardson (13)

Shootout:

EST Turner Ripplinger – No goal

BAT Seth Summers – No goal

EST Michael McChesney – No goal

BAT Quintin Loon-Stewardson – No goal

EST Bryce Platt – No goal

BAT MacGregor Sinclair – No goal

Will Koop – No goal

BAT Austin Becker – No goal

EST Isaiah Thomas – No goal

BAT Owen Lamb – Goal *Shootout winner

3-2 North Stars, the Final.

–

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1