North Stars forward Steven Kesslering scored his 16th of the season earlier this week against La Ronge, and enters play Friday with five goals, 10 points over his last 12 games. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Aim for 13th straight

Stars host Klippers to open weekend home-and-home

Jan 6, 2023 | 12:52 PM

The Battlefords North Stars return to play Friday night on home ice, as the team welcomes the division rival Kindersley Klippers to town, for night one of their weekend home-and-home.

The North Stars (20-0-2-1) enter play in the top spot of the league standings, looking to extend their winning streak to 13 straight, coming off a 4-3 victory Wednesday in their return to play off the two-week holiday layoff.

The Klippers (6-17-2-4) are fourth in the Global Ag. Risk Solutions Division, and 12^th overall in the league standings, and will be hungry to snap a four-game slide and right the ship following a challenging last 10 games (1-7-2-0).

Stars forward Colby Bear scored Wednesday night and enters the weekend with five goals and seven points in his last 10 games. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

The North Stars are rolling of late, with goals from each of their four lines in Wednesday night’s all-hands-on-deck performance against La Ronge.

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Jake Southgate, Steven Kesslering, Keiton Klein, and Evan Waldie each got on the board to open the New Year, with 10 different Stars’ players registering at least a single point in the victory.

Kian Bell leads the SJHL with 28 goals and 54 points this season, while Holden Doell (53 points) and Jake Southgate (49 points) sit just back to round out the top three, while also sitting 1-2 in league assists with 36 and 35 apiece.

Kindersley counter with a by-committee attack looking for a spark in their first game of the New Year, after being held to just two goals in each of their five games in December.

Spencer Paplawski leads the Klippers with 17 points in 29 games, while veteran speedster, Matthew Mazzocchi paces the club in goals with nine. The hottest Klipper of late is centre Logan Cox, who has points in all but a single game since being acquired from Melfort in late October.

Through his first 10 games in a Klippers’ sweater, Cox has six goals and 12 points. He enters play on a five-game point streak.

Between the pipes, the North Stars will turn to goalie Justen Maric to make his first start of the New Year. Maric is 8-0 this season with a 2.62 goals against average and .931 save percentage.

Kindersley will likely hand the reigns to Cody Jaman, who has started each of the team’s last five games. In 17 games this season, the 19-year-old is 5-8-2-1 with a 3.28 goals against average and .917 save percentage.

Friday night’s game at the ACC will be available on 1050 CJNB. The Ultra Print Pregame Show will begin at 7 p.m., with puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1