North Stars' forward Ben Portner opened the scoring Thursday on a power play goal for his third of the year. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Thursday night Hockey

North Stars face adversity early in road trip with 10-5 loss in Weyburn

Oct 27, 2023 | 1:30 AM

The Battlefords North Stars got off to a rocky start to their three-game road trip Thursday, falling 10-5 to the Weyburn Red Wings in night one of their southern swing.

Marking their third loss in their last four, with the defeat the team fall back to .500 on the season with a 6-6-0-1 record through their first 13 games.

However, the game was not also without its positives for the black and silver. The North Stars did see a marked improvement on their power play with two man-advantage goals and a number of additional scoring chances, and once again saw their depth of scoring come through with five different goal scorers on the night.

Ben Portner’s third of the season opened the scoring on the North Stars’ first power play just over four minutes into the game, converting on a slick cross-crease passing play set up by Jordan Grill and Kian Bell. The former (Grill) also scored a goal of his own in a two-point night, while the latter (Bell) notched three assists to make an immediate impact in his season debut with the team.

From there however, it was Weyburn who took over the scoring load with three of their own from Jaxson Ruthven, Blake Betson and Nicholas Kovacs, to take a 3-1 lead to the first intermission. A sign of things to come, the Wings also added two more in the second, from Ruthven (on his second of the night) and Jerome Maharaj (on the power play) to stretch the lead to 5-1 Wings.

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The North Stars did answer back with a pair of their own on back-to-back goals from Carson Olsen (on a slapper from distance) and Hunter Burgeson (on a three-on-two) to get the team back in the game trailing 5-3; followed by another trade off of a goal apiece from Wings’ Carter Briltz (his first of the year) and Stars’ Jordan Grill (on the power play) to keep it a two-goal Weyburn lead at 6-4, heading into the final frame.

Though ultimately, that is as close as the North Stars would get on the night.

Three straight goals from Kovacs (his second of the night), Elijah Anderson, and Lucas Schmid (the first of his SJHL career) stretched the Wings’ lead to 9-4 by the 12-minute mark of the third, before Brad Blake notched his fifth finishing a nice tick-tac-toe passing play from Bell and Olsen to make it 9-5.

Schmid’s second of the game pushed the Red Wings to double-digits on the night, making it 10-5 Weyburn, the final.

North Stars’ goaltender Justen Maric allowed six goals against on 24 shots, before being replaced by Joey Hawco, who allowed four on 16. At the other end, Dazza Mitchell stopped 29/34.

The North Stars will now look to rebound quickly in their return to action against the Estevan Bruins Friday night in Estevan.

Friday’s NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Broadcast will be available on 1050 CJNB, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 6:30 p.m. and puck drop to follow at 7 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

4:04 BAT Ben Portner (3) ASST: Jordan Grill, Kian Bell (PP) 1-0 BAT

8:10 WEY Jaxson Ruthven (3) ASST: Max Monette, Nicholas Kovacs 1-1 Tie

9:52 WEY Blake Betson (4) ASST: Lucas Jeffreys, Liam Fitzgerald 2-1 WEY

15:32 WEY Nicholas Kovacs (2) ASST: Jaxson Ruthven, Jerome Maharaj 3-1 WEY

Second period:

4:19 WEY Jaxson Ruthven (4) ASST: Carter Briltz 4-1 WEY

6:27 WEY Jerome Maharaj (6) ASST: Max Monette, Jacob Visentini (PP) 5-1 WEY

6:56 BAT Carson Olsen (4) ASST: Andrew Casellato 5-2 WEY

11:52 BAT Hunter Burgeson (3) ASST: Marshall Light, Evan Waldie 5-3 WEY

12:15 WEY Carter Briltz (1) ASST: Lucas Jeffreys, Elijah Anderson 6-3 WEY

15:33 BAT Jordan Grill (2) ASST: Kian Bell, Hunter Burgeson 6-4 WEY

Third period:

2:57 WEY Nicholas Kovacs (3) ASST: None 7-4 WEY

8:44 WEY Elijah Anderson (4) ASST: Max Monette, Tyler Teasdale (PP) 8-4 WEY

11:56 WEY Lucas Schmid (1) ASST: Elijah Anderson (PP) 9-4 WEY

16:45 BAT Brad Blake (5) ASST: Kian Bell, Carson Olsen 9-5 WEY

17:57 WEY Lucas Schmid (2) ASST: Jerome Maharaj, Elijah Anderson (PP) 10-5 WEY

10-5 WEY, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1