North Stars close out first half with 5-1 win over Bombers

They now go into the Christmas break with a 24-5-2 record, which is first in the Global Ag Risk Solutions division, four points ahead of Notre Dame with three games in hand.

“[Our guys] stepped up and followed through on the adjustments we wanted to make and it worked out,” Heck said. “I think some of our guys were banking on a few guys having big games and getting us through it and when Braid went down, we kind of knew that we needed everyone.”

Chasteon Braid blocked a shot in the first period and did not return for the second or third.

His teammates took flight in the final two periods, although you wouldn’t know it based on the shots, which remained fairly even.

Matthias Urbanski was the first North Star to score, and MacGregor Sinclair quickly gave them a 2-1 lead. Keith Anderson then redirected a Troy Gerein point shot to give the home side a 3-1 advantage before the second intermission.

“We wanted to pressure their ‘D’. I thought in the first we were coasting up the ice and in the second and third we were sprinting,” Heck said. “We didn’t change much. We had a gameplan. We wanted to make those seven to eight foot passes. We just supported the puck. We played well without the puck offensively.”

Matthew Fletcher notched his first career goal as a North Star to make it 4-1 after a pass from captain Layne Young (his league-leading 62nd point), and then Anderson added his second of the night to put the game out of reach.

“When [Fletcher] came off the ice [after he scored], Young looked at him and said ‘Merry Christmas,’ ” Heck said. “[Fletcher] is very underrated. He stepped into our lineup and played well from the start of the year. He moves the puck and breaks us out as well as we’ve got.”

Anderson’s two goals, plus an assist, represented yet another big night for the veteran winger.

He now has 18 points in 18 games (and leads the team with 98 penalty minutes).

“On the ice, [Anderson is] very valuable. Off the ice he’s as popular a player as we’ve got too,” Heck said. “We missed him when he was gone. I think our record showed it too.”

Although the Bombers drop to 1-11-0-1 on the road this year, Heck said they’re a team that is much better than their record indicates. They fired 30 shots on goal on Saturday while allowing 32, and also hit a crossbar.

If it weren’t for goaltender Taryn Kotchorek, there could have been a very different result.

“[Kotchorek] doesn’t surprise me. Taryn is Taryn,” Heck said. “When it was 1-0, he made a lot of big saves to keep it 1-0 and give us a chance.”

Kotchorek is now 10-4-2 this season with a .915 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against-average.

On Saturday, the Bombers also played without top rookie Chrystopher Collin, who was with Team Canada West when they won gold at the World Junior A Challenge on Saturday, along with North Stars defenceman Levi Kleiboer.

The North Stars are now off until Dec. 29, when Kleiboer will return to the lineup. Battlefords has a home-and-home with Kindersley then, on the 29th and 30th.

“It’s not going to be easy in the second half, so guys have got to get better. Every team is getting better,” Heck said. “Anyone can beat anyone and those bottom teams are improving quite a bit so the pressure is on to be better in the second half.”

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11

by Nathan Kanter

North Stars close out first half with 5-1 win over Bombers

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