The Battlefords North Stars and La Ronge Ice Wolves will duke it out for the Bauer Conference Championship.
Sunday night at the North Battleford Civic Center, the Stars prevailed 7-4 over the Melfort Mustangs. They grabbed two short-handed goals in the third period, and rode a wave of depth and resiliency to a series victory in five games over Melfort.
The Stars received goals from Nathan Tomac (2), Chad Filteau, Brett Miller, Blake Peake, Cody Folstad and Ward Szucki while for a forth straight game Graham Hildebrand made the stops he had to get the win.
The Mustangs responded with two goals each from Todd Chinova and Cole Gibson.
The highlight of the game came mid-way through the third period when Mitch Wall was booted for boarding. The Mustangs were handed a five-minute powerplay, yet surrendered two short-handed goals.
The Mustangs forced the game to 5-4 late, but Chris Ward coughed up the puck to Brett Miller with less than three minutes to go, and that ultimately sealed the series for the North Stars.
Now the Stars have a date with the La Ronge Ice Wolves, who ousted the first-place Flin Flon Bombers in six games. Game One of the series will start in North Battleford, and will 'probably' take place Friday night.
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Congratulations to the Melfort Mustangs for a hard-fought series, and to Mustang's coach Darrell Mann for rallying his team and finishing third in the Bauer Conference during the regular season. My dealings with the Mustang's staff and players were 100 percent positive, and I wish NOTHING but the best of wishes to the Mustang's and their graduating players.
Lots more to come on the blog over the next few days so keep checking back. I'll have photos and a more detailed reflection of the first-round series tomorrow.
Great job North Star Nation. Over 1400 fans filled the Civic Center tonight, and those crowds are only going to get bigger and better once the playoffs continue. You earned it guys. Thank you.
DO
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1 comment:
Tonights game showed how deep the stars really are. When your 4th line (Oak,Tomac,Watt) can score 3 goals in a very important hockey game that does wonders for a team. I thought that line may of been the best line tonight, thats a scary thought to imagine. With Laronge I think its going to be a little closer. The icewolves I think play a similar game to the stars, they've got 4 lines that can score, there gritty and they have 2 pretty good goaltenders. This series might go the max with depth going to be the ultimate difference. And I give that to the stars. GO stars Go..
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