Goaltender Josh Kotai celebrates with teammates following Saturday night's Game 2 win. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Make most of home cooking

Stars take 2-0 series lead with 7-1 win over Melfort

Apr 2, 2023 | 2:03 AM

The Stars were shining in full force Saturday night at the ACC, as the Battlefords North Stars topped the Melfort Mustangs 7-1 in Game 2 of the teams’ semi-final playoff series.

Gamebreakers Jake Southgate (2G, 3A), Steven Kesslering (2G), and Kian Bell (2G) each chipped in with multi-goal efforts; Colby Bear tallied his first of the playoffs, and Holden Doell (3A) and Tynan Ewart (2A) set the table throughout the night to lead the way for the team.

In goal, Josh Kotai stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced, keeping Melfort off the board entirely into the final two minutes of the third.

North Stars teammates Steven Kesslering (#24) and Jake Southgate (#21) combined for four goals and seven points in the Game 2 win. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Assistant coach of the North Stars, Garry Childerhose said postgame, the team’s pace throughout the night was their overarching key to success.

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“It was a really good performance from the boys, and I think we showed up tonight, played a full 60 [minutes] and kind of picked up where we left off from last night,” Childerhose said.

“We pushed the pace and eventually I think it was just a little too much for them. You could see it as the game went along, they seemed to be losing a little bit of effort and losing a little bit of confidence as well, so we just want to keep pushing that pace as long as we can.”

Kesslering’s first of the game made it 1-0 Battlefords just past the midway mark of the first period. Coming just after the expiration of a Stars’ power play, Doell started the play dropping a pass to Wilson Steele for a quick shot from the left-side boards, put home on the rebound by Kesslering in front.

Southgate’s first then made it 2-0 Stars in the final seconds of the opening frame. Set up by Ewart on a shot from a tough angle, Southgate made no mistake applying the finishing touch to poke it in from the side of the Melfort net, to give the North Stars an insurance marker heading into the second.

In the middle period, Bell’s first of the night came on a three-on-one rush generated off a Doell shot-block to send away Southgate, Doell and Bell for the odd-man chance. Southgate pushed the puck to Doell on the right, who then hit Bell on the left, who scored when his return pass hit the defender to carom into the net, stretching the Stars’ lead to 3-0.

Bell’s second of the night and 10^th of the playoffs made it 4-0, on a borderline 4-on-2, that saw Southgate drop a pass to Ewart who then put it right in the wheelhouse for Bell on the left wing for a strong-side one-timer.

Southgate’s second of the night and fourth of the post-season made it 5-0 with just six seconds to go in the second. This time the play developed off a nice keep-in at the blue line by Doell to find the captain streaking through the high-slot. Receiving the puck, Southgate powered his way to the net and snapped a backhander on goal to hit pay dirt.

Kesslering’s second came shorthanded midway through the third to make it 6-0, on a two-on-one with Southgate, firing home the rebound off a rush chance in front, for his eighth of the playoffs.

Bear’s first then made it 7-0 on that same penalty kill, on an incredible individual effort to knock the puck out of the zone, beating out the Mustangs’ defenceman for a breakaway. Once in solo, he picked his spot and snapped a shot high-blocker for a highlight-reel tally of his own.

Melfort’s Aidyn Hutchinson got the Mustangs on the board late with his third of the playoffs on a shot from the right-side boards, though at 7-1 that was as close as Melfort would come on the night.

Mustangs’ goalie Joel Favreau stopped 14/19 through 40 minutes, before being replaced by James Venne who went 8/10 in the third.

With the win, the North Stars now take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven, heading into Games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday night in Melfort. Both games 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.

In the other semi-finals series, the Flin Flon Bombers topped the Humboldt Broncos 5-2 to take a 2-0 series lead, heading back to Flin Flon for Games 3 and 4.

Scoring summary

First period:

13:17 BAT Steven Kesslering (7) ASST: Wilson Steele, Holden Doell 1-0 BAT

19:54 BAT Jake Southgate (3) ASST: Tynan Ewart, Kian Bell 2-0 BAT

Second period:

1:25 BAT Kian Bell (9) ASST: Holden Doell, Jake Southgate 3-0 BAT

17:31 BAT Kian Bell (10) ASST: Tynan Ewart, Jake Southgate 4-0 BAT

19:04 BAT Jake Southgate (4) ASST: Holden Doell 5-0 BAT

Third period:

8:08 BAT Steven Kesslering (8) ASST: Jake Southgate, Tanner Gold (SH) 6-0 BAT

9:46 BAT Colby Bear (1) ASST: None (SH) 7-0 BAT

18:04 MLF Aidyn Hutchinson (3) ASST: Wyatt Day 7-1 BAT

7-1 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1