Stars best Mustangs in wild ride for fifth straight

Kesslering opened the scoring on the first shot of the night, just 1:08 into the first period. Pulling the puck out of a scrum on the right-side boards, Kesslering waltzed to the slot and ripped a backhand short-side for his 25^th of the season and third in his last three games, to make it 1-0 Stars.

With a flurry of chances at both ends, Battlefords added to its lead on Izyk’s third of the season to make it 2-0. Firing a quick shot on goal after fending off an open-ice check, the puck then deflected off a Mustangs’ skate-and-in for the insurance marker.

Just two minutes after that, Bell’s first of two power-play markers stretched the lead to 3-0 Stars on a heads-up play by defenceman Tanner Gold to spot Bell in the high-slot cross-seem and put the puck on a platter for his 41^st.

For all the pressure and chances both ways, Melfort did see some payoff late in the frame when Ryan Duguay was sprung on a breakaway by Zac Somers and fired a shot top-cheese to cut his team’s deficit to 3-1.

While the chances would continue to come in droves in the second, Southgate’s 17^th was the lone goal to hit pay dirt, coming on the same night he was formally recognized in-house as the Stars’ Community Ambassador for the ’22-23 season.

With a 4-1 Stars lead into the third period, Melfort was far from giving up the push.

Wyatt Cook’s eighth came on a deflection off a screen to make it a 4-2 game midway through the frame, and though the Stars would score again just minutes later, the dramatics would only heighten down the stretch.

Bell’s second of the game and 42^nd of the year made it 5-2 Battlefords, again cashing in for a power play marker to re-establish his team’s cushion.

However, with the goalie pulled late, Melfort’s pressure paid off, as Clarke Huxley’s 10^th, and Boston Maxwell’s sixth came just under a minute apart to suddenly spring the Mustangs back to within a goal trailing just 5-4 inside the final minutes.

While the pressure continued late, big shot blocks by Keiton Klein and Riley Girod personified a crunch-time win-at-all-costs mindset by the Stars, followed by a 180-foot shot down-ice into the yawning cage from Gold to ice the victory with a 6-4 final.

With the win, the North Stars extend its league-leading record to 39-3-2-1 this season, through 45 games. The team now sit 22 points up on the field with 81 points (La Ronge is second with 59).

The Stars will get nearly a full week off before returning to play next Friday at Notre Dame, against the Hounds.

Friday’s game will be a regular-time start, with the Ultra Print Pregame Show at 7 p.m., and puck drop at 7:30 p.m. on the NAPA Auto Parts North Stars Hockey Broadcast on 1050 CJNB.

Scoring Summary

First period:

1:08 BAT Steven Kesslering (25) ASST: None 1-0 BAT

15:59 BAT Alex Izyk (3) ASST: None 2-0 BAT

17:30 BAT Kian Bell (41) ASST: Tanner Gold, Jake Southgate (PP) 3-0 BAT

18:44 MLF Ryan Duguay (10) ASST: Zac Somers, Riley Ashe 3-1 BAT

Second period:

1:57 BAT Jake Southgate (17) ASST: Holden Doell, Tynan Ewart 4-1 BAT

Third period:

11:21 MLF Wyatt Cook (8) ASST: David Rioux 4-2 BAT

14:14 BAT Kian Bell (42) ASST: Holden Doell, Tynan Ewart (PP) 5-2 BAT

16:45 MLF Clarke Huxley (10) ASST: Dawson Leroux, Aidyn Hutchinson 5-3 BAT

17:34 MLF Boston Maxwell (6) ASST: Zac Somers, Leith Olafson 5-4 BAT

19:24 BAT Tanner Gold (6) ASST: None (EN) 6-4 BAT

6-4 BAT, the final

—

Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1

by Martin Martinson

Stars best Mustangs in wild ride for fifth straight

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