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The North Stars play three games this week with the first one tonight in Davidson, the hometown of North Stars captain, Jackson Allan, against the Notre Dame Hounds (Byron HIldebrand/Facebook).
North Stars Week Preview

North Stars look to get back on track

Feb 4, 2025 | 12:17 PM

After coming off two losses to the Humboldt Broncos this past weekend, the Battlefords North Stars find themselves in some uncharted territory as they are now on a four-game losing streak and eighth overall in the standings for the first time this season.

The North Stars record is now at 20-17-3-2 for 45 points, tying them with the Kindersley Kindersley and Humboldt Broncos in points, but despite being tied, Battlefords still sits at the bottom of the three due to regulation wins. Right now, the North Stars have 15 regulations wins compared to Kindersley’s 16 and Humboldt’s 18, granting them the eighth spot overall and now third in the Nutrien Division.

Looking ahead to this week though, the North Stars will have three big chances to get back on track to their winning ways, starting tonight in the first of two games against the Notre Dame Hounds.

The Hounds are currently the 11th overall team in the league and last place in the Nutrien division with 26 points. Even though the Hounds record is only at 11-24-2-2 this campaign, they should not be taken lightly as the season series between Battlefords and Notre Dame is tied at three games a side with the North Stars last win against them only coming in overtime. These two games will be the final matchups between the two squads this season.

Tonight’s contest against the Hounds will be a 7 p.m. puck drop and is a neutral site game at the AGT Centre in Davidson. Then tomorrow, the North Stars will take on the Hounds again, this time at the Duncan McNeil Arena in Wilcox with puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

Battlefords will then get a few days break before they get back on the road again on Saturday and head to the Westland Arena in Yorkton to take on the Terriers for the fourth and final time this season with puck drop at 7 p.m.

The Terriers have been one of the top teams throughout the year, boasting a 25-15-1-0 record for 51 points and fourth overall in the league. The North Stars have also yet to beat the Terriers this season, being 0-3 in their matchups and outscored 22-11 in those games.

The biggest thing for the North Stars in all three games this week will be limiting the other teams’ scoring chances and coming out to a good start. Over the past five games, Battlefords has allowed an average of six goals against a game, while averaging just over three goals. Now, even though that may be a little inflated due to empty net goals, the message stays the same, the North Stars need to stop other teams from scoring as much.

Then in terms of getting good starts, the proof is in the pudding, when the North Stars lead after the first period this season, they are 11-0-1-1. On the other hand, when the team trails after the first period, they are 1-13-0-1. So, if the North Stars want to see some success in these three games, they will have to come out ready to play in the first.

Tune into all the games this week with the Napa Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast on CJNB/CJNS. Ultra Print pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to puck drop on all three nights.

Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes