Dialed in: Stars’ captain, Matthew Fletcher has been a force this season at both ends of the ice, leading all blue liners in scoring with 30 points in 32 games. The Saskatoon, product will look to lead his team back onto the winning track Saturday with another dominant showing in Kindersley. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

seeking retribution

North Stars look to snap slide, play spoilers in Kindersley

Dec 7, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Coming off a tough 3-2 overtime loss to the Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre Friday, the Battlefords North Stars will be hungry to avenge themselves Saturday night.

The team will look to return the favour of playing the spoiler, as the Stars and Klippers will meet for the second time in as many nights Saturday, at West Central Events Centre in Kindersley.

The Stars should be especially driven to get back on the winning track, as the team returns to play coming off three straight 3-2 defeats to the Terriers, Hounds and Klippers, respectively. It is the team’s first string of consecutive losses this year.

Despite the three straight defeats, the Stars’ enter play 26-4-2 on the year through their opening 32 games, good for first overall in the league standings. Kindersley are eighth in the league at 12-14-6 this season, but have picked up at least a single point in eight of their last ten games.

While the two may be separated by 24 points in the standings, as shown Friday night in the Battlefords, the Klippers’ compete level and excellent goaltending make the team a threat on any given night.

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Although he started just a night ago in the Battlefords, Klippers’ goalie, Matt Sankner is likely to get the nod again, as the home-and-home shifts to Kindersley.

Sankner has started each of the Klippers’ last six games and shows no sign of slowing down after stopping 40 of 42 North Stars’ shots Friday at the NB Civic Centre. The 19-year-old, enters play with a 2.52 goals-against average and excellent .931 save percentage on the year.

If Sankner does, if fact get the call as expected, Saturday’s game could turn into a showdown between the pipes.

The North Stars will hand the reigns to fellow 19-year-old, Adam Dmyterko in goal Saturday. Dmyterko has nearly matching statistics with those of Sankner, having posted a sparkling 2.30 goals-against average and .928 save percentage through 16 games with the Stars this year.

With offence likely to be at a premium in the night’s contest, the teams will need all hands on deck to get pucks and traffic consistently to the goal front.

After scoring just two goals or less in each of their last four games, the Battlefords will shift things around up front looking for a spark.

Among the changes, forward, Austin Becker will shift to the top unit alongside Quintin Loon-Stewardson and Rylan Nivon. The move reunites the dynamic duo of Becker and Nivon, with the team’s most prolific scorer, Loon-Stewardson manning the ice between them.

The shuffle also frees up playmaker, Elijah Loon-Stewardson to join Ben Hiltz and Matthias Urbanski on the other top-six unit. With puck skills, size, speed and finish, the unit should be a terrifying prospect for the Klippers’ defence to handle.

The Reagan-Boser-Esau line and Partsch-McNinch-Kesslering unit offer additional forechecking pressure mixed with the ability to generate scoring chances through their dogged puck pursuit. It is a bottom six that ensures no easy matchups for the Klippers, despite having last change on the night.

On the backend, the Stars’ blue line will stay mostly unchanged from the night prior.

Matthew Fletcher and Seth Summers, and Noah Form and Dylan McCabe will man the top two units. On the third pair, Walter Somers does draw back into the lineup alongside Liam Antoniuk to complete the top six, and add an additional edge to the lineup.

The Stars’ blue line has been the key to the club’s success this season, and as such, will be the rudder in steering the team back on the winning track.

In addition to allowing the fewest goals-against in the league, the Stars have also scored more from their backend than any other team this year. The seven defenceman on the roster have combined for a league-best, 23 goals, 98 points this year.

Fans can catch the North Stars in action on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

North Stars lineup

Forwards:

A. Becker, Q. Loon-Stewardson, R. Nivon

M. Urbanski, B. Hiltz, E. Loon-Stewardson

C. Reagan, K. Boser, D. Esau

H. Partsch, R. McNinch, S. Kesslering

Defencemen:

N. Form, D. McCabe

S. Summers, M. Fletcher

L. Antoniuk, W. Somers

Goaltenders:

A. Dmyterko

A. Schwab

—

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1