North Stars teammates Josh Medernach (#22), Carson Olsen (#24), and Hunter Burgeson (#23) celebrate postgame. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Streak Continues

North Stars cash in for 10th straight with 7-4 win over Millionaires

Jan 24, 2024 | 1:17 AM

The Battlefords North Stars extended their winning streak to 10 straight Tuesday night, with a 7-4 victory over the Melville Millionaires in front of the hometown crowd in North Battleford.

Alex Izyk had a goal and three assists for a second straight game, and Ben Portner extended his multi-goal-game streak to five straight, scoring another pair to move into a tie for fourth in the SJHL scoring race with 51 points (20 goals, 31 assists) in 36 games this season.

Brad Blake opened the scoring with his 16^th of the year on a wicked wrister from the high slot to make it 1-0 North Stars early, just 1:40 into the contest.

After back-to-back goals by Melville later in the opening frame to make it 2-1 Millionaries, Izyk’s 11^th of the year then re-knotted the score for the home-side, 2-2 in the second, firing home a top-shelf wrister of his own from the point.

Cohen Swan’s first of his SJHL career put Melville back in front at 3-2 midway through the second, followed by Gaborik Carlson’s first in a Mills’ sweater to stretch the lead to 4-2. However, on this night, a two-goal lead would not prove safe for the visitors.

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Portner’s first of the game got the North Stars’ back on the board with their second power play strike of the contest, coming off a deft deflection of a cross-seem pass from Izyk, to get the Battlefords back to within a single.

In the final seconds just prior to the second intermission, Jackson Allan then came flying in on the attack late, to snap home his 13^th while driving hard to the front of the net, to tie the game once again, at 4-4.

Only building off that momentum into the third, the back-breaker came 4:29 in, when Brayden Sinclair found Jordan Grill for a beautiful shorthanded goal on an odd-man rush, to put the Stars ahead for good at 5-4.

Less than a minute later, Portner cashed in for his second of the night and 20^th of the season; followed by the 10th of the year by Riley Girod into the empty net, to set a new career-high from a season ago, and cap the night’s scoring at 7-4.

Goaltender Logan Cunningham made 23 saves on the night to backstop the team to victory, while Kian Bell added to his league-leading point total with another two assists. Doing so, Bell becomes the first player to eclipse the 60-point mark this season, accomplishing the feat with 61 (26 goals, 35 assists) in just 25 games.

With the victory the North Stars are now 29-7-2-1 on the season through 39 games, and with 61 points, sit just five back of first-place Flin Flon, who they will host for a back-to-back this weekend.

Friday’s game will be played in North Battleford at the ACC, with Saturday’s across the bridge at Battleford Arena. Both nights, the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Broadcast 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:

1:40 BAT Brad Blake (16) ASST: Kian Bell, Jordan Grill 1-0 BAT

8:40 MLV Colby Ball (9) ASST: Joel Mabin, Cohen Swan 1-1 Tie

18:44 MLV Kole Keen (7) ASST: Bradley Banach 2-1 MLV

Second period:

4:28 BAT Alex Izyk (11) ASST: Kian Bell (PP) 2-2 Tie

9:44 MLV Cohen Swan (1) ASST: Cale Nachai, Brendan Olson 3-2 MLV

14:43 MLV Gaborik Carlson (1) ASST: Kole Keen 4-2 MLV

18:08 BAT Ben Portner (19) ASST: Alex Izyk (PP) 4-3 MLV

19:45 BAT Jackson Allan (13) ASST: Alex Izyk 4-4 BAT

Third period:

4:29 BAT Jordan Grill (7) ASST: Brayden Sinclair, Jackson Allan (SH) 5-4 BAT

5:20 BAT Ben Portner (20) ASST: Alex Izyk 6-4 BAT

19:58 BAT Riley Girod (10) ASST: None (EN, SH) 7-4 BAT

7-4 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1