By Martin Martinson

Stars shine bright in big win over Klippers

Dec 28, 2018 | 10:58 PM

The Battlefords North Stars showed no signs of rust coming off nearly a two-week break over Christmas, returning to action Friday with a 4-2 victory over the Kindersley Klippers in Kindersley.

MacGregor Sinclair opened the scoring on the Stars’ first man-advantage of the game.

Applying pressure on the attack, Sinclair’s tally capped off a gorgeous passing play started by Matthias Urbanski, who, after picking up the puck on the left side half-wall, threaded a pass through the seam to Austin Becker, the forward manning the right-side point position.

Upon his receipt of the pass, “The Wisconsin Wonder,” Becker then proceeded without a moment’s hesitation, to wire a pass with surgical procession back through the seam to MacGregor Sinclair lurking in the weeds on the back door for a one-time opportunity no goalie in the world would stop.

The first period would come to a close at 1-0 Stars, despite a 15-7 shot advantage for the Klippers, that would see Stars’ goaltender, Joel Grzybowski stop all 15 pucks fired his way.

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In the second period, Becker would continue to live up to his moniker, once again creating a dazzling opportunity for a linemate, this time finding fellow rookie standout, Brett Gammer in the high slot for a point-blank opportunity on goal.

Gammer would make no mistake, snapping a shot for his seventh of the year in laser-like fashion, over the glove hand of Kindersley’s netminder to provide his team an insurance marker at 2-0.

Less than four minutes after Gammer’s goal, Ryan Gil would also etch his name on the scorecard capitalizing on a 2-on-1 with Matthias Urbanski that saw the ever electric Urbanski showcase some nifty playmaking chops, feeding Gil as though he was a guest at Christmas dinner, serving a beautiful feed cross-crease at the last moment for the “California Kid” to deposit to make it 3-0 Stars.

Kindersley would respond however, with Will Van der Sloot notching his sixth of the campaign late in the period from Josh Fletcher and Cammeron Shorrock. The scoreboard would read 3-1 heading into the final twenty minutes.

Despite a late press by the Klippers, they would never close the two-goal gap, with MacGregor Sinclair re-upping his club’s three goal advantage at 4-1.

Clay Keeley would make it 4-2 on a shot late in the frame with just 15 seconds to go in regulation time, and that’s how it remained.

Battlefords’ goaltender, Joel Grzybowski continued his hot play as of late, registering 31 saves on the 33 shots he faced, good for a .939sv% to secure the victory for his team. The win moves the North Stars into second spot in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division and within two points of the Klippers for top spot.

The North Stars are back in action Saturday night for the back-half of their home-and-home set this weekend with the Klippers at the NB Civic Centre. Fans can catch the action on 1050 CJNB beginning with the pregame show at 7:15 p.m. followed by puck drop at 7:30 p.m. 

Scoring summary

First period:

10:23 BAT MacGregor Sinclair (13) ASST: Austin Becker (4), Matthias Urbanski (20) (PP)

Second period:

11:23 BAT Brett Gammer (7) ASST: Austin Becker (5)

15:16 BAT Ryan Gil (14) ASST: Matthias Urbanski (21), Ryan Granville (3)

20:00 KIN Will Van der Sloot (6) ASST: Josh Fletcher (9), Cameron Shorrock (11)

Third period:

18:06 BAT MacGregor Sinclair (14) ASST: None

19:44: Clay Keeley (4) ASST: Will Van der Sloot (11), Kyle Bosch (18)

4-2 North Stars, Final.

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1