North Stars teammates gather around goaltender, Logan Cunningham to celebrate following Friday's Game 1 win. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Take 1-0 Series lead

North Stars cash in for Game 1 win, top Mills 4-1

Mar 23, 2024 | 1:22 AM

Emotions were high in a spirited opening night of the playoffs Friday in North Battleford, as the Battlefords North Stars topped the Melville Millionaires 4-1 at the ACC, to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series in front of a packed crowd of more than 1,200.

A goaltender’s showdown throughout the night, Logan Cunningham stopped 31-of-32 to backstop the North Stars to victory, while Melville’s Will Dyke stopped 31-of-33 himself, prior to a pair of Battlefords’ empty netters late to stretch the final score.

“Cunny was great tonight,” North Stars’ assistant coach, Garry Childerhose said postgame. “He’s a competitor, and I know he’s only 18 years old, but the way he takes care of himself and his body and the little things like that [is top notch]. He took this week to prep for the playoff push, and he did a great job tonight making some huge saves and bailing us out at times. He gave us a lot of confidence as a group.”

A scoreless game through the first period, and first nine minutes of the second, the opening goal came courtesy of Ben Portner on a wraparound play from behind the net à la Doug Gilmour’s double-OT winner against the Blues in the ’93 playoffs.

“He’s almost like an SJHL [Pavel] Datsyuk, the way he can strip pucks and maintain pressure..” – North Stars’ assistant coach, Garry Childerhose on Ben Portner’s two-way impact, following Game 1. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

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A 1-0 North Stars’ lead into the third, Kian Bell made it 2-0 on a power play laser from distance for his first of two on the night, on what would stand as the game-winner.

Luc Bydal did answer with a power play goal for the Millionaires to cut the deficit in half at 2-1, though despite a concerted effort pushing for the tying goal late, that is as close as the visitors would come. Bell’s second of the night into the empty net sealed the contest, followed by a another empty-netter from Brayden Sinclair to really put the game away, as a 4-1 North Stars’ final.

A physical and belligerent game throughout, animosity reached peak levels late, following a heavy hit from Millionaires’ defenceman Colby Ball on Kian Bell in open ice.

Causing the League MVP to slowly make his way off the ice to the dressing room, the hit earned Ball a Five-Minute Major for a Blow/Hit to the Head and a 10-minute Misconduct, with the repercussions of the hit also resulting in another 30 minutes in penalties (10 each) to Tanner Gold and Jackson Allan of the North Stars and Matt Kjemhus of the Mills for each player’s role in the resulting dust-up.

With the win the North Stars take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ first-round best-of-seven series, with Game 2 less than 24 hours away, back at the ACC Saturday night. The NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Broadcast will be available Saturday on 1050 CJNB, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7 p.m. and puck drop to follow at 7:30 p.m.

In other Game 1 action around the league, the #1 Flin Flon Bombers blanked the #8 Kindersley Klippers 4-0, the #2 Melfort Mustangs topped the #7 Estevan Bruins 3-1, and the #3 Humboldt Broncos defeated the #6 Weyburn Red Wings 3-1, each to take a 1-0 series lead.

Scoring summary

First period:

No scoring

Second period:

9:01 BAT Ben Portner (1) ASST: Josh Karman 1-0 BAT

Third period:

3:11 BAT Kian Bell (1) ASST: Alex Izyk, Ben Portner (PP) 2-0 BAT

6:50 MLV Luc Bydal (1) ASST: Bradley Banach, Hudson Norris (PP) 2-1 BAT

18:22 BAT Kian Bell (2) ASST: None 3-1 BAT

19:13 BAT Brayden Sinclair (1) ASST: Kian Bell (EN) 4-1 BAT

4-1 BAT, the final

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @MartyMartyPxP1