By Nathan Kanter

Win streak continues for the North Stars

Nov 11, 2016 | 10:34 PM

Will the streak ever come to end?

Eventually, all streaks do, but with the way the North Stars have been playing as of late, it seems their 10-game winning streak will only continue to grow and grow and grow.

On Friday, their fired a whopping 59 shots on goal and allowed just 20 against, en route to a 5-2 win over the Kindersley Klippers at the Civic Centre.

“It’s been a while since we’ve played a complete game like that where we were pretty relentless all over the ice,” North Stars head coach Nate Bedford said following the game. “I thought we worked extremely hard. We didn’t take shifts off. I thought that was good. We were upbeat on the bench and guys were sticking up for each other.”

It was a fairly physical affair between the division rivals, but in the end, the North Stars depth was just too much.

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The teams exchanged goals in the opening period, first from Klippers forward Jordan Evans and then from North Stars forward Brett Horn. The shots after the first were 19-9 for Battlefords.

In the second, the ice began to tilt even more in the home side’s favour, both in shots and on the scoreboard.

Conor Jensen would let a rocket go that found the top corner short side four minutes into the frame and then Reed Delainey would streak through the neutral zone, go wide on his man, and cut to the net before chipping one over the shoulder of Klippers goaltender Nick Trenciansky to make it 3-1.

In the third, Layne Young would score twice – his 13th and 14th of the season – first on a power play and then into an empty net.

“As the game wore on I think you saw their class showing through,” Klippers head coach Geoff Grimwood said after his team’s loss, dropping their record to 9-12-1-0. “They’re a very good team. We’re not as good as them and what we have to do is find a way to bridge that gap.

“I think Battlefords is the clear cut number one in the league. I’m not just saying that. I really believe they are.”

Over the course of their 10-game winning streak, the North Stars have averaged 47.5 shots on goal per game, while allowing just 23.3 shots against. They have scored 52 goals for and allowed just 16 against during that span.

But Bedford knows it’s all about the process. The regular season means nothing in the big picture of things.

That is why he loves rolling four lines night in and night out. Without that depth, Bedofrd said, you’re not going to win in the end.

“When you need to win a championship, you’re not going to be able to do it on one or two lines and usually not three,” he said. “You need four lines that can go and six ‘D’ and we’re building towards winning a championship.”

Bedford knows some players are itching to get on the ice more often but they realize it’s about the team first.

“I’d be lying if I said guys love it,” Bedford said. “We’re not building towards individual points right now and guys are okay with that.”

The North Stars will look to extend their streak to 11 on Saturday night, with the second game of the home and home. Last year, they finished the regular season with 11 straight wins.

Puck drop in Kindersley is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the Ultra Print pre-game show beginning at 7:15 p.m. on CJNB/CJNS.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11.