North Stars Seth Summers (#27), Matthew Fletcher (#4) and MacGregor Sinclair (#19), pictured here celebrating with Owen Lamb (#21) after the North Battleford, product brought the hometown crowd to their feet at a packed Civic Centre. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Stars explode for half-a-dozen

Shooting stars put up six in Game 1 win over Mustangs

Apr 13, 2019 | 12:17 AM

The Battlefords North Stars defeated the Melfort Mustangs 6-2 Friday night at the Civic Centre. The victory gives the Stars a 1-0 lead over the Mustangs in the teams’ best-of-seven Canalta Cup Final series.

All six North Stars’ goals were scored by different players, while goaltender, Joel Grzybowski stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced in the win.

After a scoreless first period of period of play, Stars’ defenseman, Noah Form scored the opening goal of the game on a shot from the bottom of the left-side circle, creeping in from his point position to chip the puck over the outstretched arm of Mustangs’ goalie, Noah Giesbrecht and in.

Making it 1-0, Stars’ defenseman, Noah Form’s goal served as his second of the postseason, in just his twelfth playoff game, surpassing his regular season mark of one, set in 40 games. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

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About three minutes later, Ryan Gil also lit the lamp, notching his third of the playoffs to make it 2-0 Stars prior to the second intermission.

In the third, Melfort came out strong, looking to press early. The team took just 3:18 to do just that, as defenseman Jake Hobson potted his fourth of the postseason to cut his team’s deficit to one, at 2-1 Stars.

Hobson’s goal at the 3:18 mark of the third period was the first shot to allude Grzybowski since Yorkton forward, Kishaun Gervais notched his first of the playoffs back in Game 1 of the Stars’ semifinal series with the Terriers, back on March 29, over three games and two periods ago.

Gryzbowski’s shutout streak would end at 241 minutes, 18 seconds, likely a league record for the playoffs.

Another day at the office: Goalie Joel Grzybowski lead the way for the North Stars in 1 against Melfort, stopping 33/35 shots to earn first star honours for the team once again. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

After remaining 2-1 until the final half of the period, Owen Lamb put the capacity crowd at ease, scoring his first of the playoffs, knocking home a gorgeous cross-crease feed from MacGregor Sinclair, to reestablish his hometown team’s insurance-marker at now 3-1.

Stars’ forward, Owen Lamb, who lead the team in scoring with 30 goals over the course of the regular season, notched his first of the postseason Friday, and celebrated by miming throwing a monkey off his back. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Although Melfort would again add another of their own, courtesy of former Battlefords Star, Tyson Meyers, who played his Midget hockey in the community, 3-2 is ultimately as close as the Mustangs would get on the night.

Following Meyer’s tally, Lamb then returned the favor to Sinclair, dishing the Irma, Alta., product the puck to deposit his third of the playoffs to make it 4-2 North Stars.

Then, just 33 seconds later, with the Mustangs’ goalie pulled, Quintin Loon-Stewardson deposited his team-leading seventh, from Buziak and Elijah Loon-Stewardson to make it 5-2 and tie a bow on the victory for his team.

The Stars, however, were still not done. After Giesbrecht had returned to the Melfort net, Dayton Heino also got in on the scoring festivities, marking his second of the playoffs just for good measure; 6-2 Stars, the final.

Game 2 of the Final will be played Saturday (Apr. 13) at the Civic Centre. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on NAPA North Stars Hockey on 1050 CJNB.

Scoring summary

First period:

No scoring

Second period:

11:44 BAT Noah Form (2) ASST: Quintin Loon-Stewardson (8), Braydon Buziak (6)

14:30 BAT Ryan Gil (3) ASST: Owen Lamb (6), Noah Form (2)

Third period:

3:18 MLF Jake Hobson (4) ASST: Kayle Tosh (7), Carson Albrecht (6)

11:25 BAT Owen Lamb (1) ASST: MacGregor Sinclair (4)

12:37 MLF Tyson Meyers (1) ASST: Justin Ball (9), Kayle Tosh (8)

18:18 BAT MacGregor Sinclair (3) ASST: Owen Lamb (7), Ryan Gil (2)

18:51 BAT Quintin Loon-Stewardson (7) ASST: Braydon Buziak (7), Elijah Loon-Stewardson (6) (EN)

19:11 BAT Dayton Heino (2) ASST: Brett Gammer (3), Regan Doig (2)

6-2 North Stars, the Final.

–

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1