North Stars blue liner, Jordan Grill and his teammates will return to action at the ACC Saturday night, for the fourth game of their eight-game homestand this month. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Saturday night Special

Stars host Bruins for showdown of league’s hottest teams

Oct 15, 2022 | 2:00 PM

The SJHL’s two hottest teams will clash Saturday night at the ACC, as the Battlefords North Stars play host to the Estevan Bruins for the first time this season.

The Stars (10-0-1) sit atop the league standings and will be looking for a quick bounce back, after suffering their first loss of the season just a night ago in a 2-1 shootout defeat to Melfort.

The Bruins (8-6) meanwhile, have fully dug themselves out from a 1-6 start to the year, to win seven-straight, and now sit fourth overall, coming off a 3-0 shutout victory last night in Kindersley.

Estevan’s Kade Runke leads the league with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) through his first 14 games, and has been likely the hottest player in the league of late, with five multi-point games in his last six. Runke is coming off a two-assist performance Friday versus the Klippers, just a game after scoring a hat-trick in the Bruins’ wild 8-6 win over Flin Flon.

Mitch Kohner also scored a hat-trick in a four-point effort versus the Bombers, following it up with a single against the Klippers to give him four goals in his last two outings.

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The Stars counter with a high-octane offense of their own, lead by forwards Steven Kesslering and Jake Southgate.

Kesslering scored the Battlefords’ lone goal Friday to give him nine goals through his first nine games this year (tied for third in the league with teammate Keiton Klein) and 14 points, tied for most on the team with Southgate.

Southgate is the defending SJHL MVP of the Week, and has scored eight points over his last five games, including a 4-point outing just two games ago versus Weyburn.

In goal, the North Stars will turn to first-year standout, Justen Maric, after starter Josh Kotai opened the weekend Friday night versus Melfort. Maric is 2-0 to start the season, with a 2.49 goals-against average and shimmering .932 save percentage.

Estevan are likely to tap second-year, Cam Hrdlicka, who has started all 13 Bruins’ games so far, and is coming off a 37-save shutout performance versus Kindersley. Hrdlicka is 7-4 this season with a 2.78 goals against average and .919 save percentage.

The North Stars do hold an edge in special teams play heading into Saturday’s contest, with a 29.3 percent effectiveness on the power play (second overall) and 80.4 percent penalty kill (sixth). Estevan have been clicking at 18.8 percent on the man advantage (eighth) and 77.3 percent on the kill (10^th).

Saturday’s game will be available on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m., with puck drop at 7:30 p.m., on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Broadcast.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1