Stars Remain Unbeaten At Home

Heaven forbid that the Battlefords North Stars ever make a game look easy.

The Notre Dame Hounds went toe-to-toe with the Stars tonight and damn nearly escaped with another two points against the Bauer Conference division leaders. But, instead they were only stuck with one. The North Stars once again found a way to win a hockey game, and their home record now improves to 6-0.

The Stars quickly got off to a 2-0 lead as Brody Malek (2) and Justin Waskewitch (4) scored for the home squad. Notre Dame would draw within one when Travis Janke scored his first of two consecutive goals for the Hounds.

In true fashion, the North Stars came within inches of pulling this game out of reach. A couple of meatball opportunities eluded the Stars, and they wrapped up the first 20 minutes with a 2-1 lead.

Notre Dame owned the second period. Travis Janke and A.J. Moore scored in the later portion of the frame to make it 3-2 Notre Dame.

To their credit, the North Stars were able to redeem themselves in the third period. They out shot Notre Dame 13-6, and came close on a number of different opportunities.

Finally, the Stars were able to get a good bounce, when Mitch Wall was sent in on a two-on-one with the most reliable point producer on the team. Brett Miller made no mistake when he received a cross-crease pass, and tallied his 9th of the season.

Overtime would solve nothing, and for the second straight Friday, the game would require a shootout. And for the second straight Friday, Blake Peake and Brett Miller score the goals for the Stars in order to seal the deal on their sixth straight home-ice victory.

After the game, Ken Pearson admitted that he wasn't exactly thrilled with the way his team conducted themselves during the second period. But on a positive note, he said, "Last year, we lose a game like this. This year, we're able to win them." He's absolutely right. Not much else to really say.

Overall, it was a very exciting game, and the fans made their presence known.

It won't get any easier for the first-place North Stars, as they host the Weyburn Red Wings tomorrow night at 7:30.


I'll have some photos posted tomorrow. Julie took some beautys again!

Goodnight North Star Nation, you kicked ass tonight. Great work.