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Down but not out: North Stars force game 5 with crazy 9-6 win

Apr 3, 2018 | 11:16 PM

In perhaps the most utterly ridiculous game of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League season so far, the Battlefords North Stars topped the Estevan Bruins 9-6 to force a game 5 this Thursday, as the win means they now trail 3-1 in the best-of-7 semifinal series.

It would be an understatement to say the nearly 2,000 fans in attendance got their money’s worth with the 15 combined goals, though for the coaches it was a different story.

Still, North Stars head coach Brandon Heck said it’s not how the win happened that matters.

“Doesn’t matter to me,” Heck said. “Just glad it happened.”

Putting more goals past the Bruins in a single game than they had all series (9-7) doesn’t hurt either.

“Both teams power plays were dangerous tonight,” Heck said when asked about the offensive surge, referring to the North Stars going 2-for-4 and the Bruins 2-for-7 on the man advantage. “We shot the puck and we retreived pucks. We were real good at shooting the puck and getting to it first. Our d-men did a way better job at getting shots through.”

Estevan was outshot in the game 44-38.

The action started under a minute into the first period, when MacGregor Sinclair opened the scoring for Battlefords for the first time in the series.

Sinclair added a second goal and two assists on the night. His first goal was huge for a team that had never had a lead all series long, until his sixth of the playoffs just 39 seconds in.

“That was one of the best games he’s played all year,” Heck said. “It was extremely important [to score first]. We needed that. We talked about having a quick start.”

It was also a game that saw each team show resiliency.

The North Stars got out to multiple two-goal leads, only to see the Bruins get to within one again and again. Battlefords had leads of 3-1, then 4-2, then 5-3, then 7-4, before the Bruins scored two goals late to get to within one at 7-6. That led to a Matthias Urbanski breakaway goal with 2:10 to go in regulation, followed by a Cody Spagrud empty-netter to put the icing on the cake for good.

“We had a great bench and we were motivated,” Heck said. “I know a lot of guys, especially the 20s, they didn’t want to go out like they did at the Civic Centre [in game two]. They wanted to make sure they played in front of the fans again and show their appreciation for the support.”

In addition to two goals from MacGregor Sinclair, they also got two power play goals from Dakota Huebner, and one goal each from Keith Anderson, Garan Magnes, Elijah Loon-Stewardson, Urbanski and Spagrud.

Huebner and Loon-Stewardson’s performance were key.

“This is the best game [Huebner] has played in two months,” Heck said. “We needed someone to step up…He was excellent on the PK and making plays in his d-zone.

“You would argue that [Loon-Stewardson] was the second best player on the ice tonight. It’s pretty impressive when he can make Sinclair and [Layne] Young even more dangerous, just with his poise.”

Also of note was the fact Bruins netminder Bo Didur was forced from the game after the sixth North Stars goal due to what appeared to be a lower-body injury. Even before that goal, he was moving gingerly inside his crease when he went down in the butterfly.

His status is currently up in air for Thursday’s game 5, set for the Civic Centre in North Battleford at 7:30 p.m.

“[Fans] are going to see the Battlefords North Stars of 2017-18,” Heck said. “They’ll get to see us put on a performance where we dictate the pace of play like we’ve wanted to all year.”

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11