Goaltender, Kristian Lyon is congratulated by teammate, Walter Somers following a 42-save shutout performance in his North Stars’ debut Wednesday in Melville. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

The Lyon King

Stars pull off heist, blank Millionaires 5-0 in Melville

Jan 16, 2020 | 12:08 AM

Just one night after playing the spoiler as the visitors at Notre Dame, the Battlefords North Stars topped the Melville Millionaires 5-0 Wednesday night in Melville, to cap their midweek road swing a perfect 2-0.

Goaltender, Kristian Lyon stopped all 42 shots he faced in his North Stars’ debut to lead the way with a shutout performance, while five different Stars chipped in with a goal apiece.

Following the night’s action, Lyon was quick to deflect praise for his performance onto his teammates.

“It was a fun game,” he said. “The guys played a full 60 [minutes] and it made it pretty easy for me.”

Amongst the finest of his 42 saves on the night, were back-to-back stops on Millionaires’ captain, Aidan Steinke. The initial save came on a 2-on-0 as Steinke received a pass on the give-and-go with Millionaires’ leading scorer, Zach McIntyre; but the second was even better.

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Seemingly caught out of position, following his initial stop, Lyon somehow managed to fling his arms across in time to stonewall the captain on his follow-up bid as well.

When asked what was going through his mind at the time, the Langley, BC., product said he was just determined to not give up on the play. “It doesn’t matter if you are down and out, there is always a stoppable puck out there,” he added.

In addition to Lyon’s memorable debut between the pipes, Elijah Loon-Stewardson, Jaxon Steele, Noah Form, Austin Becker and Kaden Boser added the Battlefords’ five goals on the night.

Loon-Stewardson’s 15^th opened the scoring just over five minutes into the first, scoring on a deke move in front on a 3-on-1. Looking off the pass, Loon-Stewardson then reached around the netminder – while cutting across the netfront – to tuck home the 1-0 lead for his team early.

Steele made it 2-0 Stars just 43 seconds later, rifling home a wrister for his 7^th of the campaign. In addition to an insurance marker, the goal also extends Steele’s point streak to eight straight.

Following suit, Form then also added his 7^th, to make it 3-0 Battlefords prior to the first intermission. The tally came on a shot through traffic that found its way through the pads of Melville’s goalie, Berk Berkeliev.

In the second, Austin Becker added to the lead further, firing a puck home from the mid slot to make it 4-0 Stars on the power play. For Becker, the goal served as his 16^th of the campaign.

After a mainly scoreless third, Kaden Boser added the final nail in the coffin. Scoring to make it 5-0 with just over two seconds to go in regulation, Boser’s goal was the forward’s 6^th of the year.

With the win, the Stars continue to add to their lead in the league standings. Now 34-7-2 on the season, the Battlefords’ 70 points give the team a 14-point advantage over second place, Yorkton.

Melville, meanwhile, slip to 13-23-6 with the defeat, and remain in 12^th place overall.

The North Stars will now have a night off to rest and regroup, before returning to action Friday night against La Ronge at the Civic Centre.

Friday’s game will be broadcast on 1050 CJNB. The NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast will begin at 7:15 p.m. with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

5:06 BAT Elijah Loon-Stewardson (15) ASST: Noah Form (18), Kristian Lyon (1)

5:49 BAT Jaxon Steele (7) ASST: Ben Hiltz (19), Seth Summers (28)

6:51 BAT Noah Form (7) ASST: Timon Prexler (4), Ben Hiltz (20)

Second period:

5:06 BAT Austin Becker (16) ASST: Matthias Urbanski (25), Seth Summers (29) (PP)

Third period:

19:57 BAT Kaden Boser (6) ASST: Timon Prexler (5), Matthias Urbanski (26)

5-0 North Stars, the final.

—

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1