Ashtyn Shields, pictured here lining up opposite Hawks' captain Maguire Ratzlaff, scored his first career SJHL goal Saturday night in Nipawin. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

7-3 Victory

Stars bounce back for win in Nipawin, cap weekend trip with three/four points

Nov 13, 2022 | 1:17 AM

Holden Doell scored a pair of goals, set up another, and dropped the gloves to lead the Battlefords in every way possible en route to a 7-3 victory Saturday night in Nipawin.

Kian Bell also scored a pair, while Jake Southgate added three assists, Ashtyn Shields tallied his first in the SJHL, and Brad Blake and Steven Kesslering also chipped in for a single apiece.

Between the pipes, Stars’ netminder Justen Maric also had himself a night, stopping 37/40 to improve to 5-0 this season.

Following a scoreless opening period, Doell broke the ice with his first of the night and 12^th of the season just 49 seconds into the second, to make it 1-0 Stars on a shot from the right circle on a 4-on-3 power play.

Just over a minute later, Doell again struck for his second of the game and 13^th of the year, this time on a breakaway, that saw the Stars’ forward cut away from the pack and burry the insurance marker on a quick forehand deke move.

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Nipawin’s Zander Stewart cut his team’s deficit in half on a rocket from distance soon after, though it took just 45 seconds for the Battlefords to answer back again with a bang.

Stepping right off the bench and into the play, Brad Blake picked up a pass only to one-touch the puck around the on-rushing defenseman, dodging around the hit, before all-in-one motion slicing a shot to the short-side, under the goalie’s glove.

A highlight-reel tally, the goal served as Blake’s second of the year to re-establish a two-goal advantage for his team at 3-1 Stars, coming just three minutes before the first of the night from Bell.

Set up on a dime of a saucer pass from Doell just in front of the net, Bell reached around the goalie to tuck a shot home and stretch the lead to 4-1 quickly, just ahead of the midway mark of the second.

And while the goals were coming fast and furious, the animosity was also boiling over to a head. After Braxton Buckberger gave Doell an extra shot behind the play, the league’s leading scorer (Doell) finally had enough – dropping the gloves with the Hawks forward, with a potent showing in the fisticuffs department.

Holden Doell had a fire in his eyes all night Saturday, picking up another three-points, taking the body throughout the night, and even dropping the gloves for his first scrap of the season. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Reid Mackay scored his first of the season for Nipawin prior to the end of the second, though trailing 4-2 at the end of 40 minutes is as close as the Hawks would come.

In the third, the Battlefords put the game well out of reach with another two in close proximity, to extend their lead to 6-2.

First, Bell scored his second of the night to pass Hawks’ captain Maguire Ratzlaff for top spot on the SJHL goal leaderboard with his 17th, before Kesslering followed a minute later with his 12^th on the deflection of a Ryan Taylor shot from the point.

Francois-Xavier Bedard got Nipawin’s final marker to make it a 6-3 game, before Stars’ forward Ashtyn Shields capped the night’s victory with his first in the SJHL.

Set up on a gorgeous play by Owen Underhill, that saw the Stars’ first-year dodge an open-ice check before saucing a pass over the other sprawled defender to the awaiting Shields in front, the latter showed no hesitation converting on the chance in front for the milestone tally.

With the 7-3 win the Stars take three of a possible four points total on their weekend trip, and remain undefeated in regulation, extending their league-leading record to 18-0-2-1 through 21 games.

The North Stars will now get the better part of a week off, before returning to play next weekend for back-to-backs Friday and Saturday night against the Flin Flon Bombers in North Battleford.

Next weekend’s games will be available on 1050 CJNB, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7 p.m. and puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

No scoring

Second period:

0:49 BAT Holden Doell (11) ASST: Jake Southgate (23), Tynan Ewart (17) (PP) 1-0 Stars

2:05 BAT Holden Doell (12) ASST: Jake Southgate (24) 2-0 Stars

5:00 NIP Zander Stewart (2) ASST: Rylan Lefebvre (10), Alex Ochitwa (6) 2-1 Stars

5:45 BAT Bradley Blake (2) ASST: Steven Kesslering (10), Keiton Klein (7) 3-1 Stars

8:41 BAT Bell (16) ASST: Holden Doell (21) 4-1 Stars

13:27 NIP Reid Mackay (1) ASST: Rylan Lefebvre (11), Zander Stewart (15) 4-2 Stars

Third period:

5:42 BAT Kian Bell (17) ASST: Jake Southgate (25) 5-2 Stars

6:58 BAT Steven Kesslering (12) ASST: Ryan Taylor (3), Jackson Allan (7) 6-2 Stars

9:31 NIP Francois-Xavier Bedard (2) ASST: Alex Ochitwa (7), Alex Johnson (17) 6-3 Stars

13:08 BAT Ashtyn Shields (1) ASST: Owen Underhill (1) 7-3 Stars

7-3 North Stars, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1