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North Stars defeat Kilppers to win third straight

Jan 18, 2019 | 11:14 PM

The Battlefords North Stars beat the division-rival Kindersley Klippers 3-1 Friday at West Central Events Centre in Kindersley. Entering action three points behind the Klippers, the North Stars are now just a single point back of the division-lead for top spot in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division.

Matthias Urbanski opened the scoring Friday with his 17th of the season with just under four minutes remaining in the first period.

Capping off a nice passing play, Urbanski’s goal came to fruition after Quintin Loon-Stewardson danced the puck out in front of the Klippers’s goalmouth, only to look off the shot before dishing the puck through the seam to the back door. Urbanski, lying in wait, was then able to fire the shot home into an empty net with the goaltender lost in a net-front scramble, 1-0 Stars.

In the second period, the Klippers would tie things up just-passed the midway mark of the period, with Noah Bankowski firing home his seventh of the season. Depositing the puck off a mad scramble in front of the North Stars’ goal, begun by a Josh Fletcher wraparound bid, Bankowski would eventually be the one to cash in. The game would remain 1-1 to the end of the second.

About one minute after the tying goal, Klippers forward, Brett Neumeier would hammer Ryan Gil into the numbers deep in the Klippers’ zone, leading to Seth Summers’ answering the bell for his teammate.

Without so much as a second thought, Summers’ gloves were off, with the defenseman throwing jackhammers at Neumeier in defense of his teammate.

Summers’ scrap would not be the only bout Friday night either, quickly turning into fight night in Kindersley, just two minutes after the first altercation, a second broke out with Kaden Boser squaring off with the Klippers’ Tyler Traptow in another heavy-weight showdown.

In the third period, Quintin Loon-Stewardson would add to his night, scoring his ninth of the season. Coming off a nice play by Dylan Esau at the side of the goal to find “Q-Loon,” as he’s known by teammates, the goal would result from a partial two-on-one break; 2-1 the Stars had retaken the lead.

With time winding down in the third period and the Klippers pushing hard for the tie, Braydon Buziak would be the man to ice the proverbial victory cake, notching his 11th of the season on a quick shot with under half-a-minute to go, that glanced off the defenseman’s stick and in to fool the goaltender; 3-1 the final.

Between the pipes, North Stars’ goalie Joel Grzybowski allowed just one goal, stopping 31 shots of the 32 he faced on the night.

Grzybowski’s performance saw the goaltender post a .969 save percentage in the victory, and perhaps even more importantly, stay calm, cool and collected late in the third period with the Klippers pressing in tight for the tying marker.

The North Stars return to action tomorrow night as the team travels to Gull Lake to take on another division-rival, in the Notre Dame Hounds. Pregame starts at 7:15 p.m., with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m. on 1050 CJNB.

 

Scoring summary

First period:

16:43 BAT Matthias Urbanski (17) ASST: Quintin Loon-Stewardson (10), Elijah Loon-Stewardson (15)

Second period:

12:10 KIN Noah Bankowski (7) ASST: Josh Fletcher (14), Steven Avalone (3)

Third period:

8:27 BAT Quintin Loon-Stewardson (9) ASST: Dylan Esau (10), Brett Gammer (10)

19:40 BAT Braydon Buziak (11) ASST: None

3-1 North Stars, the Final

 

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1