Stars win fifth-straight, stand tall atop division

Elijah Loon-Stewardson opened the scoring for the North Stars, coming just under seven minutes into the first period.

Coming on a breakaway in alone on the goalie, Loon-Stewardson faked forehand, before then pulling the puck to his backhand to tuck it home, giving his team a 1-0 lead early on.

About six minutes later, Brett Gammer made it 2-0 on his 15^th of the campaign, good for the fourth best total amongst rookies this season.

Humboldt answered back with a goal of their own to make it 2-1 off the tape of Michael Clarke with just under five minutes remaining in the opening frame, before the North Stars would again cash in, this time courtesy of Dayton Heino.

Coming just minutes after Clarke’s goal, Heino’s seventh of the year came off a quick transitional play that saw Matthew Fletcher fire a pass to Regan Doig for a hot shot off the rush. Although initially stopped, Doig’s shot did produce a rebound that was then deposited from in tight by the veteran, Heino for his second goal in his last two games.

At the end of the first, the score read 3-1 North Stars.

In the second, however, Humboldt would strike back on a scoring surge of their own.

After Cole Kirkup potted his fifth of the year to make it 3-2 just about midway through the frame, Bryson Cecconi also etched his name in the score card, knotting the game up, 3-3.

Still not done, the Broncos continued to feed off the momentum of the hometown, capacity crowd, adding two more goals in bang-bang fashion from Mitch Zambon and Drew Warkentine, respectively.

Just like that, in a span of under four minutes, the Broncos had reversed the lead entirely, going from trailing 3-1, to leading 5-3.

Believe it or not, however, that four-minute stretch would not be the biggest momentum swinger in the period.

About two-and-a-half minutes after Warkentine made it 5-3, North Stars defenseman Garrett Johnson made a routine hit on a Broncos’ player in front of the Humboldt bench.

Taking exception to the check in an effort to stand up for his teammate, Broncos’ forward Michael Clarke then came over to confront the Stars’ defenseman.

Jawing back and forth down ice as the two continued to exchange pokes and prods; little did the fans in attendance at the Elgar Petersen Arena know, but an all-out melee was just about to start.

After Johnson and Clarke appeared to make a pact to drop the gloves, all of the sudden in the blink of an eye, Clarke’s teammate, Warkentine pounced in instead. Reaching in from behind, Warkentine wasted no time on introductions, slamming a left hook right into the middle of Johnson’s face.

Despite the early jump on his man, Warkentine would ultimately take the brunt of the bout with Johnson, as the Goodrich, Michigan product recovered quickly to land some shots of his own.

Almost as if alarm bells had rung, instantly everyone on the ice had a dance partner, wrapping up in a headlock anyone wearing an opposition sweater within arms’ reach.

Austin Shumanski, Johnson’s defense partner on the ice, was no different. Shumanski, finding himself locked up with 16-year-old, Chase Lacombe, tried to let the youngster off with a warning, giving the rookie just a couple of shoves while backing away.

Lacombe, though, looked to be in the dancing mood. The pair ultimately did end up dropping the gloves, with the elder statesman, Shumanski (6’6, 220 lbs.) proving to be just too much to handle for his 6-foot-1, 190-pound counterpart.

Out of the mix-up, or semi-line brawl as it would happen, the North Stars came away with a full two-minute 5-on-3 man advantage.

Stars’ forward Brett Gammer, pictured far right, picked up two goals Saturday night and has now scored 16 on the season, ranking amongst the top five in rookie goal scoring. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Making the most of their opportunity to get right back in the game, the Stars’ top unit took just nine seconds into their opening power play to cash in. Funneling the puck to the goal with due haste, Brett Gammer was the man to cash on the rebound from Owen Lamb’s shot; 5-4 now the Stars had cut the lead.

Still on a 5-on-4 advantage after Gammer’s second of the night; the Battlefords also saw their second unit notch a power play goal of their own just over a minute later, thanks to Quintin Loon-Stewardson’s 14^th of the season. The goal was also Loon-Stewardson’s third in his last two games.

At 5-5, Gil would also tally one for the North Stars prior to the second intermission, chalking his 19^th of the season to reestablish his team’s one-goal lead.

The Stars would close out the period carrying a 6-5 advantage to the dressing room at the end of forty minutes.

In the third, after Mitch Zambon tied things 6-6 on his second goal of the contest, the Stars would put the game to bed on the strength of three-consecutive goals.

Owen Lamb’s 28^th of the season made it 7-6 with what would ultimately hold up as the game winning goal on the night. For Lamb, that gives the forward the game winner in four of his team’s last five games.

Kaden Boser’s fourth of the year made it 8-6 on a shorthanded breakaway tally, before Buziak ultimately iced the cake with his 19^th into the empty net.

Stars’ goalie Joel Grzybowski stopped 37 of the 43 shots he faced on the night to secure the win for his team.

At the other end, Humboldt netminder, Dane Dow made 33 saves on the 41 shots he faced.

The North Stars will return to action Tuesday at the NB Civic Centre as the team welcomes the rival Kindersley Klippers to town. The final game of the regular season, the stakes will be at an all-time high as the winner will be able to clinch top spot in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division, and the number two seed heading into the postseason.

Fans can catch Tueday’s action on 1050 CJNB beginning with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on the NAPA North Stars hockey broadcast.

Scoring summary at a glance

First period:

6:46 BAT Elijah Loon-Stewardson (16) ASST: Matthew Fletcher (20)

12:54 BAT Brett Gammer (15) ASST: Dylan Esau (15), Austin Becker (13)

15:15 HUM Michael Clarke (28) ASST: Drew Warkentine (7)

18:49 BAT Dayton Heino ASST: Regan Doig (12), Matthew Fletcher (21)

Second period:

9:49 HUM Cole Kirkup (5) ASST: Derek Patter (11), Reid Arnold (8)

10:59 HUM Byson Cecconi (11) ASST: Mark Edmands (20), Brayden Camrud (28)

11:47 HUM Mitch Zambon (21) ASST: Riker Franczak (6), Zach McIntyre (15)

13:38 HUM Drew Warkentine (24) ASST: Max Johnson (3), Owen Guenter (38)

16:03 BAT Brett Gammer (16) ASST: Owen Lamb (27), Braydon Buziak (30) (SH)

17:22 BAT Quintin Loon-Stewardson (14) ASST: Ryan Gil (20) (PP)

18:12 BAT Ryan Gil (19) ASST: Owen Lamb (28)

Third period:

8:41 HUM Mitch Zambon (22) ASST: Brayden Camrud (29), Michael Clarke (43) (PP)

14:20 BAT Owen Lamb (28) ASST: Braydon Buziak (31), Seth Summers (11) (EN)

15:46 BAT Kaden Boser (4) ASST: None

19:01 BAT Braydon Buziak (19) ASST: MacGregor Sinclair (41) (EN)

9-6 North Stars, the Final.

–

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

Stars win fifth-straight, stand tall atop division

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