Good times rolling: With their victory Saturday night, the North Stars have now won seven straight on home ice, and 14 of their last 16 games overall. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

money in the bank

Stars run up tab on Millionaires, close weekend with 5-1 win

Feb 9, 2020 | 12:08 AM

Just a night after sweeping their season-series with Melfort, the Battlefords North Stars repeated the feat with Melville as well, to cap off their ‘M&M homestand’ this weekend in the Battlefords a perfect 2-0.

Five different North Stars scored in the win, as Dylan McCabe, Austin Becker and Matthew Fletcher cashed in through the opening two periods, before Matthias Urbanski and Elijah Loon-Stewardson put the game away by adding two more in the third.

Between the pipes, Kristian Lyon stopped 32-of-33 Millionaires’ shots to improve to 6-0 with the Stars, while posting a sterling 1.67 goals-against average and .950 save percentage over the span.

Aidan Steinke scored the lone Melville goal, while goalie, Kaleb McEachern made 33 saves on 37 shots in the loss.

Dylan McCabe got the party started for the Stars, snapping a wrist shot through traffic just 1:15 into the first, to make it 1-0 Battlefords early.

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The goal served as McCabe’s seventh of the season, while Elijah Loon-Stewardson’s primary assist marked the forward’s 100^th career point.

Later in the period, Austin Becker’s 18^th came on a tip play in front to make it 2-0 prior to the first intermission.

While the Wisconsin Wonder’s tally was not technically a power play goal, the Stars’ set the play up with the extra man, as the goal was credited the second after Melville’s penalty time had expired.

In the second, Millionaires’ captain, Aidan Steinke was gifted an opportunity to answer back for the visitors, after the forward was tripped up on a partial break, leading to a penalty shot.

Carrying the puck into the zone deliberately, Steinke showed quick hands in-tight on the deke move, but got denied by the right pad of Lyon.

With the save, Lyon kept his team ahead by a pair and appeared to offer the group another sudden spark.

Just three minutes later, it was Stars’ captain, Matthew Fletcher who made it 3-0 for the Battlefords, capitalizing for his 10^th of the season on a quick shot off a pinch-in play deep.

With his 10th goal of the season Saturday, Fletcher becomes just the fourth defenceman in the SJHL this year to hit double digits in goals. The Stars’ captain joins teammates Seth Summers and Noah Form, along with Flin Flon’s Mason Martin, as the only other blue liners to achieve the mark. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Although Steinke did strike for the Millionaires with a late period goal to make it 3-1, the North Stars put the game away for good in the third period.

Matthias Urbanski’s 21^st of the season gave the Stars a 4-1 advantage, serving as the 20-year-old’s 50^th point of the season.

Elijah Loon-Stewardson then collected the empty netter to close out the night’s action at 5-1 Battlefords, the final.

With the victory, the North Stars improve to 41-8-2 on the season, giving them 84 points on the year. A Flin Flon loss to Estevan also improves the team’s lead atop the league standings to 13 points over second place.

The North Stars will now get a couple of days off to rest up and regroup, before returning to action Tuesday night, as the team will welcome the division rival Notre Dame Hounds to the Civic Centre.

Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m. on NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey.

Scoring summary

First period:

1:15 BAT Dylan McCabe (7) ASST: Elijah Loon-Stewardson (30), Quintin Loon-Stewardson (25)

17:11 BAT Austin Becker (18) ASST: Ben Hiltz (29), Seth Summers (32)

Second period:

7:14 BAT Matthew Fletcher (10) ASST: Matthias Urbanski (29), Ben Hiltz (30)

14:43 MLV Aiden Steinke (13) ASST: Rin Beny (11), Jake Spak (9) (PP)

Third period:

3:25 BAT Matthias Urbanski (21) ASST: Dylan McCabe (14), Noah Form (24)

18:52 BAT Elijah Loon-Stewardson (16) ASST: Quintin Loon-Stewardson (26), Matthew Fletcher (35)

5-1 North Stars, the final.

—

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1