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The North Stars will try to avoid falling to 0-2 on the season when they host the Nipawin Hawks on Saturday. (Image Credit: Ryan Lambert/battlefordsNOW staff)
HOME OPENER LOSS

North Stars run into hot goalie, fall 3-1 to Kindersley in season opener

Sep 19, 2026 | 12:43 AM

The Battlefords North Stars’ seven-game winning streak against the Kindersley Klippers ended with a 3-1 loss in the season opener. 

“Came in a little bit too confident and got outworked for 60 minutes,” North Stars assistant coach Owen Lamb said after the game. 

“Kindersley did a really good job of winning races and winning battles. Felt like we didn’t win a single draw all night. Just got outplayed tonight and just need a better effort when we go into tomorrow.” 

Kindersley opened the scoring at the 8:55 mark of the first period. Cobe Perlinger took a pass from Pryce Thiessen near the side of the net, went to the backhand and scored over the shoulder of North Stars goaltender Nathan Claydon to put the Klippers up 1-0. 

The North Stars had three power-play opportunities but failed to capitalize and took a one-goal deficit into the second period. 

After one: 1-0 Klippers 

At the seven-minute mark of the second period, the Klippers doubled their lead. Newly acquired Konnor Watson floated a shot toward the net before it went off a defender and past Claydon to put Kindersley up 2-0. 

The North Stars got one back a few minutes later, finally scoring on the power play during their fifth opportunity. Raiden Zacharias put a shot on net that Finlay Klippenstein deflected in from the slot for the North Stars’ first goal of the season, cutting the Klippers’ lead to 2-1. 


(video credit: Kenneth Cheung)

With less than two minutes left in the second period, at 18:04, Kaegan Lowe restored the Klippers’ two-goal lead. Claydon saved the initial shot from Brody Sharpe and tried to poke the rebound away. However, Lowe beat him to the puck and put away the rebound to send Kindersley into the intermission up 3-1. 

After two: 3-1 Klippers 

The North Stars outshot the Klippers 13-3 in the third period. Despite testing Klippers goaltender Mattias Radke, the Kindersley netminder stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced. 

No goals were scored in the third period as the Klippers secured the season-opening victory. 

Final score: 3-1 Klippers 

The biggest factors in the North Stars’ loss were Radke’s performance and a one-for-six showing on the power play. 

“At the beginning, we thought we were getting our looks, getting our chances. One was going to come but just didn’t seem to happen. So obviously a little bit of frustration creeps in. So hopefully tomorrow our guys can come with a clear mindset ready to go and hopefully get one early,” Lamb said. 

As they head into a matchup against the Nipawin Hawks, Lamb hopes the North Stars can quickly put the game behind them. 

“I think we got to take a couple deep breaths here. Rewatch the game here and then do a little pre-scout on Nipawin and just make sure we’re dialed in on the details we maybe missed today and bring that compete.” 

The Ultra Print pregame show begins at 7 p.m. on Sept. 19, followed by NAPA Auto Parts North Stars hockey at 7:30 p.m. on CJNB/CJNS. 

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com