The Battlefords North Stars impressive run continued at the Civic Centre Tuesday night.
In their second meeting with the La Ronge Ice Wolves in less than a week, the North Stars skated away with a 4-1 victory and earned their ninth consecutive win in the process.
鈥淟a Ronge outworked us in the first two periods, but then we came out and played our game in the third period,鈥� North Stars associate coach Braeden Johnson said. 鈥淲hen we execute our game plan, that鈥檚 when we are successful.
鈥淚 have to give a lot of credit to the leadership that we have in the dressing room as well. They really helped to change things around in the third period.鈥�
Although Tuesday鈥檚 wasn鈥檛 as close as Friday鈥檚 4-3 shootout affair between the two sides in La Ronge, both sides were tied up at a single goal apiece through 40 minutes before the North Stars scored twice in the third period.
鈥淲e need to have better starts,鈥� North Stars forward Keaton Holinaty said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 keep doing that against teams that are lower than us in the standings.
鈥淚 think we don鈥檛 have the right attitude when we play against these kind of teams. We need to remember that they are just as good as us, and it doesn't matter where they are in the standings. Everyone in this league battles hard and we have a target on our back as one of the top teams, so we need to play up to that level at all times.鈥�
Holinaty played a key part in his team鈥檚 third period charge as he scored a pair of power play goals.
鈥淔inally,鈥� Holinaty said. 鈥淲e had six power plays tonight so it was nice to get a goal in those situations.
鈥淚 kind of got lucky on the second goal. The puck bounced and I missed it the first time, but I was able to get a good shot on the backhand attempt and it ended up in the net. On the first goal, (Kendall) Fransoo made a nice play to the net and I just had to give a little whack to the puck to score.鈥�
Holinaty also had an assist on Brett Horn鈥檚 goal in the second period.
Cody Spagrud gave his team the lead just 53 seconds into the final frame while Taryn Kotchorek turned aside 18 shots.
鈥淭he line of Horn, Holinaty and (Connor) Logan have been working really well together as of late and it was nice to see them rewarded for their play tonight,鈥� Johnson said.
鈥淪pagrud came up big with his goal in the third period and I thought Fransoo did a great job of leading the way. His work ethic and leadership is something that everyone follows out there.鈥�
Jared Blaquiere had the lone goal for the Ice Wolves, who have a 2-15-0-3 record and have lost their last six games.
鈥淭he intensity that we had and our compete level was similar to what we had Friday night at home,鈥� Ice Wolves acting head coach Eric Bell said.
鈥淭he biggest difference was the third period. We took a couple of penalties and they were able to capitalize with two power play goals.鈥�
Aaron MacKay made 40 saves for the visiting side in the loss.
With the win, the North Stars now enjoy a five-point cushion over the Humboldt Broncos in the race for first place in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League鈥檚 Finning Division.
The Broncos suffered a 4-3 loss at home to the Notre Dame Hounds Tuesday night.
In the battle for the top spot in the league standings, the North Stars lead the Estevan Bruins by three points ahead of the Bruins home game with the Melville Millionaires Wednesday evening.
Next up for the North Stars, who now have a 17-5-0-0 record, is a home-and-home series this weekend with the Kindersley Klippers, with the first meeting between the two sides taking place at the Civic Centre at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
鈥淜indersley鈥檚 had a few big wins as of late and we know they鈥檒l be coming out hard after they didn鈥檛 play well here the last time we faced them,鈥� Holinaty said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l need to come out like we have previously against them, and we鈥檒l need to have a good start.鈥�
The teams will square off again in Kindersley Saturday night.
