Stars Hold Off Bombers 6-4.

The Battlefords North Star's padded their lead over Nipawin in the Bauer Conference, and inched closer to Flin Flon in the process after a 6-4 victory over Flin Flon Thursday in North Battleford. Blake Tatchell scored twice (once on a penalty-shot) and Kyle Birch made 42 saves, many of the highlight variety.

The scoring started at 7:42 of the first period on a Star's power-play.
Bomber's d-man Ian McNulty covered the puck with his glove in the crease, which meant penalty-shot. Blake Tatchell was chosen, and he did not disappoint. Tatchell raced in on Musico, made a nifty back-hand deke for his 19th of the season. 1-0 Stars.

Less than a minute later, Flin Flon was awarded a penalty-shot when Deven Stillar was tripped up on a short-handed breakaway. Stillar tried to go forehand on Kyle Birch, and fired wide to Birch's stick-side. In Stillar's defence, the puck was rolling on him.

Late in the first, the Stars increased their lead on a short-handed marker. Deven Stillar turned the puck over at his blueline and Kyle Hall raced in with Tim Rollins on a two-on-one. Hall fed Rollins perfectly, and Rollins re-directed the puck past Musico to give the Stars a 2-0 lead.

Mitch Galbraith scored at 19:04 to give the Stars a 3-0 lead, and in the final seconds Kyle Birch made a stellar save off Dillan McCombie to keep the score 3-0.

Early in the second, Flin Flon found an answer. Jesse Mychan tallied on a power-play at 2:11. Tyler Mah took the point-shot, and Mychan pounced on a rebound. 52 seconds later Dillan McCombie beat Kyle Birch on a brilliant wrist-shot that knocked Birch's water-bottle off the top of the net.

Flin Flon kept at it, and out-played the Stars for a good portion of the second. Flin Flon had a great chance to tie it on a five-on-three power-play, but Kyle Birch and the Star's penalty-killers held their lead.

The Star's resiliency was rewarded late in the second with Blake Tatchell's second of the game. Tatchell received a pass from Luke Hannas, weaved his way through defenders and then deked Musico (backhand) for his 20th of the year.

Early in the third, Luke Hannas intercepted the puck off a P.J. Musico clearing attempt, and buried to make it 5-2. The Bombers wouldn't go away though. Doug McLeod bridged the gap at 4:08, and then Riley Storzuk tipped home an Ian McNulty point-shot at 12:30 to make the score 5-4.

In the late stages of the third period, Kyle Birch made a couple more key stops to keep the game 5-4. After a Flin-Flon timeout, the Stars grabbed possession off the draw, and Samuel Fortier sealed the deal with an empty-netter.

The Flin Flon Bombers outshot the Stars 46-36, and finished the night one of six on the powerplay. The Stars went scoreless on four powerplay opportunities.

The victory improves the Star's record to 16-20-1-1. They trail the fourth-place Bombers by two points in the Bauer Conference, but more importantly they now hold an eight-point lead over Nipawin for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Bauer Conference. The Nipawin Hawks do hold seven games in hand though, but would have to win four of seven just to tie. The Hawks and Stars will meet Saturday night at the North
Battleford Civic Center.


Playoff atmosphere? No question.

Puck drops, 7:30 P.M. Saturday night.