By Martin Martinson

North Stars seek revenge against Ice Wolves

Dec 7, 2018 | 1:00 PM

Coming off a tough 3-1 loss last night to the La Ronge Ice Wolves in Pinehouse, the Battlefords North Stars will aim to avenge their defeat tonight, taking on the same Ice Wolves team, this time in La Ronge.

La Ronge’s victory last night was their first win in over a month, and will no doubt provide confidence within their group tonight to make it two-straight with a win in front of the hometown crowd.

The North Stars, of course, have other ideas. Entering action this evening with a 16-9-6 record through their first 31 games, last night marked the Battlefords’ first regulation loss in their last six games.

Held to just one goal Thursday night, with the lone tally coming on the power play, the North Stars will mix up the lines tonight in an effort to try and generate further even-strength offence.

MacGregor Sinclair will be joined by Brett Gammer and Braydon Buziak on the top line, in a unit that offers speed, smarts and an ability to generate scoring chances both on the rush and off the cycle using their speed and offensive instincts.

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Owen Lamb will shift to his natural center position on line two, where he’ll be flanked by Elijah Loon-Stewardson, and Austin Becker. With proven chemistry already established between Lamb and Loon-Stewardson, Becker will only add further offensive spark to supply his linemates with good looks on goal in tight off the cycle.

Matthias Urbanski will shift to the center-ice position on line three, giving him perhaps more room in open ice to wheel and utilize his break-neck speed to full advantage. Urbanski will be joined by Ryan Gil to his left, and Dayton Heino to his right. With all three players showing a great penchant for playing a quick, up-tempo game, this line should put even the best defenders on their heels in open ice.

Dylan Esau with Regan Doig and Quintin Loon-Stewardson on line four bring added size and grit to the bottom six, while also showing good versatility, able to pick up extra minutes on the special teams’ units, with all three featuring in on either the power play or penalty kill.

On the blue line, Cody Spagrud will be joined tonight by Tanner Scott who draws back into the lineup to rejoin the captain on the Stars’ top pairing. Scott’s defence-first approach should encourage even further offensive confidence in Spagrud, who sits third amongst defencemen in scoring with 22 points, while logging a ton of minutes in all situations for his team.

Matthew Fletcher and Seth Summers remain joined at the hip on pair two, as their mix of size, mobility and heady two-way play remains an asset to the club and a great compliment to each other as a unit.

Austin Shumanski on pair three will suit up to the left of Ryan Granville, providing further stability on the backend for the black and silver.

In goal, Stars’ starter, Joel Grzybowski will get the nod tonight, after getting a rest Thursday. Grzybowski has been tremendous as of late, going 3-0-1 over his last four starts, while posting a staggering .954 save percentage over the span.

Fans of the North Stars can catch all of the action beginning with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m., with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m. on 1050 CJNB.

North Stars lineup at a glance

Forwards:

B. Buziak, M. Sinclair, B. Gammer

A. Becker, O. Lamb, E. Loon-Stewardson

R. Gil, M. Urbanski, D. Heino

Q. Loon-Stewardson, D. Esau, R. Doig

Defencemen:

T. Scott, C. Spagrud

S. Summers, M. Fletcher

A. Shumanski, R. Granville

Goaltenders:

J. Grzybowski

C. Duran

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1