North Stars teammates celebrate around goalie Josh Kotai, who stopped 39/40 La Ronge shots to backstop the team to victory. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)
Take 3-1 Win

Stars freeze Ice Wolves for sixth straight

Dec 8, 2022 | 12:09 AM

The Battlefords North Stars extended their winning streak to six straight Wednesday night, taking home a 3-1 victory over the La Ronge Ice Wolves in North Battleford.

Billed as a heavyweight matchup between the SJHL’s top two teams, both sides delivered on the promise, with tight back-and-forth action throughout the night.

North Stars forward Marshall Light in action on the face-off versus La Ronge’s Ethan Strik. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Josh Kotai stopped 39/40 shots on the night to lead the Battlefords to victory, along with a goal apiece from each of Tanner Gold, Jake Southgate, and Colby Bear.

Dylan Handel scored the lone goal for the Ice Wolves in the loss, while Dawson Smith stopped 33/36 to keep his team in the contest throughout the night.

Gold and Southgate scored just minutes apart in the first seven minutes of the first period to make it 2-0 Battlefords early.

Gold’s third opened the scoring on a seeing-eye wrister through traffic, with Southgate’s 10th adding the insurance marker on a highlight-reel breakaway tally to extend the lead.

Exploding into the offensive zone for the breakaway opportunity, the Stars’ captain faked a forehand shot, before pulling the puck to his backhand to slide it home through the wickets on the goaltender to extend the lead.

With his goal Wednesday, Stars captain Jake Southgate extended his league-leading point total to now 43 points through 26 games this season. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The game remained 2-0 until midway through the second, when Handel cashed in for his ninth to put the Wolves on the board and cut the visitors’ deficit to 2-1, where it would remain until the second intermission.

Bear’s eighth of the year was the lone goal of the third, coming off a quick release in front, off a slick feed by Kian Bell behind the net. Coming at the 13:13 mark of the regulation time period, the insurance marker solidified the win for the Stars.

With the victory, the North Stars extend their league-leading record to 23-0-2-1 this season, and now have a 10 point lead over second place La Ronge (49-39) with still three games in hand.

The North Stars will return to action this weekend for a home-and-home Friday and Saturday night with the Nipawin Hawks.

Friday’s game will be played at the ACC in North Battleford, and will be available on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m. with puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m.

Scoring summary

First period:

3:50 BAT Tanner Gold (3) ASST: Riley Girod, Evan Waldie 1-0 Stars

6:59 BAT Jake Southgate (10) ASST: None 2-0 Stars

Second period:

10:35 LAR Dylan Handel (9) ASST: Lleyton Shearon 2-1 Stars

Third period:

13:13 BAT Colby Bear (8) ASST: Kian Bell 3-1 Stars

3-1 North Stars, the final

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1

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