Stars aim to close out Bombers in Game 6

While the games have been tight, they have also been low scoring, as the goaltending for either side has been tremendous all series long.

Stars’ goalie Joel Grzybowski has made at least 40 saves in three of the first five games of the series, and is coming off a 44 save effort Friday.

Grzybowski has stopped 198 shots of the total 207 sent his way, allowing the highly-potent Flin Flon offense, which averaged over four goals per-game through the regular season, just one game where the team was able to score four, and they did so in six periods.

Grzybowski’s sparkling 1.50 goals-against average and .957 save percentage lead all netminders this postseason.

Gabriel Waked, in the Bombers’ net, has also been impressive, though surely overshadowed for much of the series by his counterpart wearing the North Stars’ crest.

Waked has stopped 176 of the 188 shots he’s faced through five games, and is coming off his best performance of the series, no doubt, that saw the St. Bruno De Montarville, QC., product make 55 saves on the 58 shots he faced from the Battlefords in Game 5’s triple OT showdown.

Waked has posted a 2.01 goals-against average and .936 save percentage through the series so far.

On the blue line, one of the prominent showdowns highlighted from the get-go this series was the chance to see two of the league’s best defenseman sharing the ice, in the Stars’ Cody Spagrud, who was named SJHL Top Defenseman, and the Bombers’ Calvon Boots, who was a finalist for the award.

Spagrud led all Stars’ players in ice time in Game 5, playing a staggering 46 minutes through the six-period marathon.

At the other end, Calvon Boots did not play in the third period, or overtime Wednesday, as the defenseman was on the receiving-end of a Kaden Boser check late in the second period, that was deemed to be a blow to the head in front of the Bombers’ goalmouth.

It remains to be seen if Boots will return to the Bombers’ lineup tonight.

Up front, another of the prominent matchups, in more of a direct head-to-head sense, has featured the two team’s top lines going up against one another with the Battlefords’ Sinclair line facing off with Flin Flon’s Nate Hooper unit. The dual pits two of the top center iceman in the league against one another, shift-over-shift.

Sinclair is coming off a performance Friday that saw the forward score his first two goals of the postseason, while also picking up an assist as well, as the Irma, Alta., native contributed directly to each of his team’s three goals on the evening.

Nate Hooper is also coming off a breakout game Friday night at the Civic Centre, as the Bombers’ captain, who had just two assists through the first four games of the series, picked up the two biggest goals of the season for his team, adding a helper too, for good measure.

After coming through with the tying goal with just 28.8 seconds to go in the third, Hooper also scored the game winner on the night in the third overtime period to extend the series, and season for his team.

The Ultra Print Pregame Show tonight will begin at 6 p.m. with puck drop at 6:30 p.m. on NAPA North Stars Hockey on 1050 CJNB.

In other playoff action around the league:

The Yorkton Terriers can close out their series with the Nipawin Hawks with a Game 6 win in Yorkton tonight.

The Humboldt Broncos can also close out their series with the Estevan Bruins in Game 6 at the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

Stars aim to close out Bombers in Game 6

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