North Stars teammates Jake Southgate, Holden Doell and Tynan Ewart gather around goalie Josh Kotai following Saturday night's win, where all three picked up multi-point games for the team. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

6-4 Thriller

Stars best Mustangs in wild ride for fifth straight

Feb 5, 2023 | 12:33 AM

The Battlefords North Stars extended its winning streak to five straight on Saturday, with a 6-4 victory over the Melfort Mustangs at the Access Communications Centre.

From the drop of the puck, the pace was set: fast and furious, with hardly a whistle through the first period and great end-to-end chances.

Kian Bell scored another two goals in the win to bring his total to 42 in 40 games this year, while Jake Southgate (1G, 1A), Tanner Gold (1G, 1A), Steven Kesslering and Alex Izyk also scored for the team. Holden Doell (2A), and Tynan Ewart (2A) added a pair of assists each.

A look inside from Saturday night’s showdown, as Jackson Allan tangles up with Mustangs’ captain Ben Tkachuk on the draw. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Kesslering opened the scoring on the first shot of the night, just 1:08 into the first period. Pulling the puck out of a scrum on the right-side boards, Kesslering waltzed to the slot and ripped a backhand short-side for his 25^th of the season and third in his last three games, to make it 1-0 Stars.

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With a flurry of chances at both ends, Battlefords added to its lead on Izyk’s third of the season to make it 2-0. Firing a quick shot on goal after fending off an open-ice check, the puck then deflected off a Mustangs’ skate-and-in for the insurance marker.

Just two minutes after that, Bell’s first of two power-play markers stretched the lead to 3-0 Stars on a heads-up play by defenceman Tanner Gold to spot Bell in the high-slot cross-seem and put the puck on a platter for his 41^st.

For all the pressure and chances both ways, Melfort did see some payoff late in the frame when Ryan Duguay was sprung on a breakaway by Zac Somers and fired a shot top-cheese to cut his team’s deficit to 3-1.

While the chances would continue to come in droves in the second, Southgate’s 17^th was the lone goal to hit pay dirt, coming on the same night he was formally recognized in-house as the Stars’ Community Ambassador for the ’22-23 season.

With a 4-1 Stars lead into the third period, Melfort was far from giving up the push.

Wyatt Cook’s eighth came on a deflection off a screen to make it a 4-2 game midway through the frame, and though the Stars would score again just minutes later, the dramatics would only heighten down the stretch.

Bell’s second of the game and 42^nd of the year made it 5-2 Battlefords, again cashing in for a power play marker to re-establish his team’s cushion.

However, with the goalie pulled late, Melfort’s pressure paid off, as Clarke Huxley’s 10^th, and Boston Maxwell’s sixth came just under a minute apart to suddenly spring the Mustangs back to within a goal trailing just 5-4 inside the final minutes.

While the pressure continued late, big shot blocks by Keiton Klein and Riley Girod personified a crunch-time win-at-all-costs mindset by the Stars, followed by a 180-foot shot down-ice into the yawning cage from Gold to ice the victory with a 6-4 final.

With the win, the North Stars extend its league-leading record to 39-3-2-1 this season, through 45 games. The team now sit 22 points up on the field with 81 points (La Ronge is second with 59).

The Stars will get nearly a full week off before returning to play next Friday at Notre Dame, against the Hounds.

Friday’s game will be a regular-time start, 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 on 1050 CJNB.

Scoring Summary

First period:

1:08 BAT Steven Kesslering (25) ASST: None 1-0 BAT

15:59 BAT Alex Izyk (3) ASST: None 2-0 BAT

17:30 BAT Kian Bell (41) ASST: Tanner Gold, Jake Southgate (PP) 3-0 BAT

18:44 MLF Ryan Duguay (10) ASST: Zac Somers, Riley Ashe 3-1 BAT

Second period:

1:57 BAT Jake Southgate (17) ASST: Holden Doell, Tynan Ewart 4-1 BAT

Third period:

11:21 MLF Wyatt Cook (8) ASST: David Rioux 4-2 BAT

14:14 BAT Kian Bell (42) ASST: Holden Doell, Tynan Ewart (PP) 5-2 BAT

16:45 MLF Clarke Huxley (10) ASST: Dawson Leroux, Aidyn Hutchinson 5-3 BAT

17:34 MLF Boston Maxwell (6) ASST: Zac Somers, Leith Olafson 5-4 BAT

19:24 BAT Tanner Gold (6) ASST: None (EN) 6-4 BAT

6-4 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1