North Stars teammates celebrate together around goalie Joey Hawco, following Thursday's 6-1 win in Warman. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Winning Streak continues

North Stars top Wings 6-1 for eighth straight

Nov 16, 2023 | 6:52 PM

The Battlefords North Stars extended their winning streak to eight straight Thursday afternoon, closing out the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Showcase with a 6-1 victory over the Weyburn Red Wings, in Warman.

Five different players scored for the North Stars in the win, as Kian Bell notched a pair, and each of Tanner Gold (one goal, one assist), Alex Izyk, Ben Portner, and Jackson Allan added a single apiece, and Joey Hawco stopped 29/30 Red Wings’ shots to backstop the team.

Bell’s ninth of the season opened the scoring just over two minutes into the first on a breakaway, followed by Izyk’s third, on a slick move down the boards to then tuck the puck home at the front of the net, to make it a 2-0 Battlefords lead into the first intermission.

In the second, Bell’s 10^th made it 3-0, banking the puck off the back of the goalie and in, followed by Portner’s eighth of the year off a perfect cross-crease feed from Brayden Sinclair on an odd-man rush to make it 4-0.

Allan’s sixth stretched the North Stars’ advantage to 5-0 just over four minutes into the third, converting on a 2-on-0 from the blue line in – feeding a pass across to Rylan Williams who then dished it right back – for the goal.

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Following the Red Wings’ lone goal of the game midway through the third, Gold’s third of the season then capped the night to make it a 7-1 North Stars’ final.

A hard-hitting contest with plenty of extra-curriculars, the third period alone saw the teams combine for 148 minutes in penalties, headlined by a trio of scraps between Riley Girod and Tyler Teasdale, Andrew Casellato and Lucas Jeffreys, and Marshall Light and Grady Sterling-Ponech.

Red Wings’ goalies Eric Kahl and Dazza Mitchell both saw time in the crease throughout the game, with Mitchell stepping in after the North Stars’ third goal, prior to Kahl’s return for the third period.

With the win, the North Stars are now 14-6-0-1, and with 29 points sit tied with second-place Humboldt, though the Broncos do hold three games in hand.

Following Thursday’s win, the North Stars hit the road to La Ronge for their first of what will be back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night at the Mel Hegland Uniplex. Friday’s game 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.

Scoring summary

First period:

2:10 BAT Kian Bell (9) ASST: Tanner Gold 1-0 BAT

15:55 BAT Alex Izyk (3) ASST: Marshall Light 2-0 BAT

Second period:

12:15 Kian Bell (10) ASST: Carson Olsen 3-0 BAT

14:35 Portner (8) ASST: Brayden Sinclair, Evan Waldie 4-0 BAT

Third period:

4:05 BAT Jackson Allan (6) ASST: Rylan Williams 5-0 BAT

8:34 WEY Braigh LeGrandeur ASST: Nicholas Kovacs, Lucas Schmid 5-1 BAT

18:52 BAT Tanner Gold ASST: Rylan Williams, Brad Blake 6-1 BAT

6-1 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

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