North Stars teammates gather around goaltender Josh Kotai to celebrate following Friday night's Game 1 win versus Melfort. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Lead semis 1-0

Stars top Mustangs 5-2 in Game 1 for early series lead

Apr 1, 2023 | 12:56 AM

The Battlefords North Stars took home a 5-2 win over Melfort Friday night on home ice, to take the early 1-0 series lead in their best-of-seven semi-finals series with the Mustangs.

Four different players scored for the Stars in the victory, as Steven Kesslering led the way with a pair on the night (also adding a scrap in the final minutes) while Jordan Grill, Kian Bell and Holden Doell also scored for the team, and Josh Kotai made 26/28 saves for the win.

Melfort saw scoring contributions from captain Ben Tkachuk late in the first and Clarke Huxley late in the third, while Joel Favreau stopped 34/38, including a handful of spectacular saves on a Colby Bear Breakaway, Southgate tip in front, and Bell chance from the slot to keep his team in the game throughout the night.

Stars’ forward Kian Bell pictured here opposite Melfort’s Dawson Leroux. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Grill opened the scoring for the Battlefords midway through the first, picking up a stretch-pass from Tanner Gold for a breakaway from the offensive blue line. Faking a forehand shot, Grill then pulled the puck to his backhand and went top-shelf, just under the bar to bring the crowd to their feet at 1-0 Battlefords.

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Tkachuk’s goal knotted the score 1-1 just .04 seconds prior to the first intermission, on a Melfort power play late in the opening frame. Converting on a quick tick-tac-toe passing play with a one-timer from the mid slot, the Mustangs’ captain’s tally marked his third of the post-season.

After a scoreless start to the second that hardly saw a stoppage, Kesslering’s first of the night made it 2-1 North Stars on a power play goal, off a slick cross-crease pass from captain Jake Southgate, to re-establish his team’s advantage on his fifth of the playoffs.

Four minutes later, the play of the game came from the North Stars’ big line, led by Southgate. Hustling back hard on a backchecking effort that led to crashing into the end boards, Southgate busted up a Melfort scoring chance at the far-side post, leading quickly to a Bell give-and-go with Doell the other way just moments later for Bell’s league-leading eighth of the playoffs.

The play was a two-goal swing. Instead of the Mustangs making it 2-2, the Stars made it 3-1 heading into the third.

Kesslering’s second of the night and sixth of the playoffs stretched the lead to 4-1 Battlefords on a hard net-drive out of the right corner, followed by a finesse touch to fire a backhander upstairs on the goalie.

Though Huxley’s second of the post-season did get his team back to within a pair at 4-2, that is as close as the Mustangs would come. Doell’s third of the playoffs – and third in his last three games – sealed the night’s action on an empty-netter to make it 5-2 Stars, the final.

Not about to go quietly into the night, the Mustangs played hard to the final whistle, with Boston Maxwell mixing it up with Keiton Klein ahead of a faceoff late, that then saw Kesslering drop the gloves with Melfort’s Wyatt Cook.

While the only official fight of the night, the teams continued to mix it up to the end of the contest, with 82 minutes in penalties assessed over the final 1:11 of play.

With the win, the North Stars now lead their best-of-seven semi-finals series with the Mustangs 1-0, heading into a big Game 2 Saturday night, once again in North Battleford.

Game 2 at the ACC will be available on 1050 CJNB, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7 p.m., and puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m. on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast.

In the other semi-finals series, the Flin Flon Bombers beat the Humboldt Broncos 4-3 in Humboldt, to take a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 Saturday night as well.

Scoring summary

First period:

10:05 BAT Jordan Grill (2) ASST: Tanner Gold

19:59 MLF Ben Tkachuk (3) ASST: Dawson Leroux, Aidyn Hutchinson (PP)

Second period:

14:53 BAT Steven Kesslering (5) ASST: Jake Southgate, Tynan Ewart (PP)

18:47 BAT Kian Bell (8) ASST: Holden Doell, Alex Izyk

Third period:

8:05 BAT Steven Kesslering (6) ASST: Jackson Allan

17:43 MLF Clarke Huxley (2) ASST: Leith Olafson, Kevin Minnoch

18:42 BAT Holden Doell (3) ASST: Jordan Gibbs, Kian Bell (EN)

5-2 North Stars, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1