North Stars' forward Brad Blake, pictured here in a puck battle with Broncos' captain Cage Newans, scored his 20th of the season Saturday night. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Retake third-place

North Stars snap skid with 7-4 win in Humboldt

Mar 10, 2024 | 1:31 AM

The Battlefords North Stars snapped their six-game losing skid (0-5-1) in triumphant fashion Saturday, taking home a 7-4 victory over the division rival Broncos in Humboldt.

Leapfrogging the Broncos to re-take third overall in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) standings, with the win, the team saw all hands on-deck contributing, from the scoresheet to the corners.

“It was a really strong effort from the whole group tonight,” North Stars’ assistant coach, Garry Childerhose said postgame. “The energy was up, it was really good, and we came to work for the full 60 tonight. We battled for each other and stood up for each other at the end, so it was great to see and there were a lot of positives to build on.”

Kian Bell was electric throughout the night’s contest, putting up a monster five-point performance (two goals, three assists) to stretch his league-leading point total to 93 points (36 goals, 56 assists) in just 40 games.

Jordan Grill (one goal, two assists), Ben Portner (one goal, one assist), Brad Blake (one goal, one assist), and Tanner Gold (two assists) also added multi-point games, on a huge night for the offense.

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“I feel like we’ve been generating lots of chances even over these last six or seven games, but tonight – just something about it – they just seemed to be going in,” Bell said postgame. “It’s about time we got some bounces like that, and this was a huge confidence-booster heading into the playoffs and the final week of the regular season, so it felt really good.”

Medernach’s ninth of the season opened the scoring for the Battlefords, making it 1-0 on a power play strike just 5:25 into the first. Followed by Portner’s 28^th on a 4-on-3 late in the frame, the second made it a 2-0 North Stars’ lead at the first intermission.

Easton Rask’s first of the season then made it 3-0 midway through the second, followed by back-to-back snipes on Bell’s 35^th and Blake’s 20^th, to take a stranglehold on the game at 5-0 Stars.

Spencer Bell’s league-leading 43^rd got the Broncos on the board late in the second, followed by a Connor Thue one-timer in the opening 17 seconds of the third to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, not about to led their lead falter, Kian Bell’s second of the night came soon after as a shorthanded marker to quiet the crowd again at 6-2.

Back-to-back goals from Broncos’ captain Cage Newans made it a 6-4 game, though that is as close as Humboldt would come. Grill’s 12^th capped the night late, firing the puck down ice into the empty net to seal the victory for his team at 7-4.

With under a minute to go in an out-of-reach contest, Humboldt’s Marik Mamic took an ill-advised run at Stars’ defenceman Josh Karman leading animosity to boil over with both Colton Getzlaff and Riley Girod taking exception, as Girod dropped the gloves with the Broncos’ winger in a spirited bout.

North Stars’ goaltender, Logan Cunningham made 32 saves on 36 shots to backstop his team in the win, including a huge penalty-shot stop on Spencer Bell in the third, with the Broncos pushing to get back in it. Humboldt’s Benjamin Motew allowed seven on 20 shots at the other end.

With the win, the North Stars are now 34-14-5 through 54 games, and take a one-point lead on Humboldt for third overall. The Stars will now get another week off, before returning to play next Friday and Saturday for a home-and-home with Kindersley to wrap the regular season.

Friday’s game will mark the North Stars’ final home game of the regular season. 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 at 7:30 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

5:25 BAT Josh Medernach (9) ASST: Kian Bell, Brad Blake (PP) 1-0 BAT

17:38 BAT Ben Portner (28) ASST: Alex Izyk, Kian Bell 2-0 BAT

Second period:

10:58 BAT Easton Rask (1) ASST: Ben Portner, Jordan Grill 3-0 BAT

13:26 BAT Kian Bell (35) ASST: Jordan Grill, Josh Karman 4-0 BAT

13:46 BAT Brad Blake (20) ASST: Tanner Gold, Kian Bell (PP) 5-0 BAT

15:21 HUM Spencer Bell (43) ASST: Jacob Strizzi, Daylan Weigel 5-1 BAT

Third period:

0:17 HUM Connor Thue (7) ASST: Maddox Amaral, Jeter Korte 5-2 BAT

2:23 BAT Kian Bell (36) ASST: None (SH) 6-2 BAT

16:36 HUM Cage Newans (22) ASST: None 6-3 BAT

17:24 HUM Cage Newans ASST: None 6-4 BAT

17:45 BAT Jordan Grill (12) ASST: Tanner Gold 7-4 BAT

7-4 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1