The North Stars top line of Kian Bell (#27), Holden Doell (#16) and Jake Southgate (#21) combined for eight points on the night, while Justen Maric stopped 42/44, to led the team in Thursday's win. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Bell scores 40th

Stars top Hounds 5-2 in Wilcox to win fourth straight

Feb 3, 2023 | 1:23 AM

The Battlefords North Stars extended their winning streak to four straight Thursday night in Wilcox, with a 5-2 victory over the division rival, Notre Dame Hounds.

Justen Maric withstood a Hounds barrage early on his way to a 42-save performance in the win, while Kian Bell picked up a pair of goals in a four-point night, to hit the 40-goal plateau in just his 39^th game and ramp up the 50-in-50 watch down the stretch.

Holden Doell (1G, 1A), Jake Southgate (1G, 1A), Tynan Ewart (2A), and Steven Kesslering (2A) also registered multi-point efforts in the win, while Brad Blake stayed scorching hot as well, with his fifth goal and seventh point over his last six games.

Stars forward Jackson Allan seen here in action against Notre Dame, Thursday. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Fighting to get back in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot, Notre Dame stormed out the gates early, as expected.

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Hounds’ forward Carson Baylis scored his fourth goal in his last two games – and sixth in his last four – just minutes into the first, as Notre Dame ran out to a 10-1 shot advantage.

Excellent goaltending from Maric kept his team within a single, on his way to 17 saves in the opening period, allowing the Stars to regain their footing. Southgate’s 16^th on the power play then knotted the score midway through, 1-1.

After Evan Vanden Heuvel scored to make it 2-1 Hounds at the end of the first, the Stars would be the team to bring the storm starting in the second.

Doell’s 25^th of the season came on a quick snap-shot five-hole to make it a 2-2 game on the Stars’ second power play tally of the night, followed by an electric individual effort from Bell for his first of the night, cut straight out of the highlight-reel.

Picking up a drop pass in his own zone, Bell wound up ice into a full head of steam over the attacking blue line, down the right wing. Stopping on a dime, he then pivoted his body to the inside of the ice, to snap a dagger to the back of the net for his 39^th of the year in just his 39^th game.

In the third period, Bell’s second of the night, and 40^th of the campaign, made it a 4-2 game to give the Stars a valuable insurance marker just past the five-minute mark. The goal was then followed just minutes later by Blake’s ninth, to seal the night’s action at 5-2 Battlefords.

Blake’s goal serves as his fifth in his last six games, to give him at least a single point in six straight.

With the win, the North Stars extend their league leading record to 38-3-2-1 on the season through 44 games. With 79 points, the Stars now have their biggest lead yet over the field, with a 21-point cushion over second-place La Ronge (58 points).

The North Stars will now get a day off Friday, before returning to play on home ice Saturday night against the Melfort Mustangs. Saturday’s game will be available on 1050 CJNB, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7 p.m. and puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1