Sign up for the battlefordsNOW newsletter

North Stars prove Terriers’ bark worse than bite

Jan 11, 2019 | 11:38 PM

The Battlefords North Stars defeated the Yorkton Terriers 5-2 Friday night at Farrell Agencies Arena to snap a three-game losing skid, and usher in their first win of 2019.

Between the pipes, Chad Duran stood tall, making 31 stops on the 33 shots he faced including a combined 29 in the third period alone, and many were of the spectacular variety.

Among Duran’s shining moments was a stop on Branden Klatt in the dying seconds of the first period from point-blank range and a save off the mask on Jared Legien from the dee slot in the third. Duran has now stopped 100 of the 106 combined shots he’s faced over four games with the Battlefords, good for a sparkling 1.46 goals against average and .943 save percentage.

After a scoreless first period, Brett Gammer broke the deadlock not-quite four minutes into the second, potting his eighth of the year from Dylan Esau and Cody Spagrud.

Gammer’s goal came courtesy of a crafty pass by Esau in behind the Terriers’ net to find the forward lose at the side of the goal on a bang-bang play.

Appearing to only feed off the spark brought on by the opening tally, it would not take long for the North Stars to build on their lead, thanks to Cody Spagrud’s eighth of the year.

Spagrud’s goal came off a slap shot from the blue line, beating the goaltender clean from the middle of the point to give his team the insurance marker; 2-0 Stars.

Just one minute after the captain’s tally, it would be Brett Gammer who would once again brake through, scoring his ninth of the year off a shot from the line by Sinclair. The Edmonton, Alta., product got a piece of in front, tipping the puck passed the Terrier’s goalie and into the net to increase the lead to 3-0 Battlefords.

Still not done, MacGregor Sinclair would be the next North Star to etch his name in the goal column, just past the half-way mark of the period. After an opening period that saw a game up for grabs, the Stars grabbed the horse by the reigns and scored four unanswered to make it 4-0 after forty minutes of play.

However, in the third, the ever-dangerous Terriers would bite back on the offensive, thanks to Cole Keeleyside’s tenth of the year off the forward’s tape in front and in. That slowly inched his team back into the action, down 4-1.

Eventually though, the Stars would snuff-out any kind of comeback attempt with Quintin Loon-Stewardson the man to turn the chains further, and for all intents and purposes, salt the game away. Loon-Stewardson’s goal also stuck with the eight theme, as “Q-Loon” marked the third player in black and silver to notch his eighth goal of the year on the night.

A late Jared Legien tally was as close as Yorkton would get, with the winger’s 30th of the campaign cutting the deficit to 5-3. That’s how it would remain as the final on the night.

The North Stars will now aim to keep the momentum rolling as the team is right back in action Saturday night against the Melville Millionaires in Melville.

 

Scoring summary

First period:

No scoring

Second period:

3:45 BAT Brett Gammer (8) ASST: Dylan Esau (9), Cody Spagrud (19)

4:25 BAT Cody Spagrud (8) ASST: Tanner Scott (8), MacGregor Sinclair (26)

5:25 BAT Brett Gammer (9) ASST: MacGregor Sinclair (27), Quintin Loon-Stewardson (8) (PP)

12:27 BAT MacGregor Sinclair (15) Cody Spagrud (20), Owen Lamb (13) (PP)

Third period:

12:37 YOR Cole Keenleyside (10) ASST: Quinten Hobbs (6), Brendan Mark (25)

7:55 BAT Quintin Loon-Stewardson (8) ASST: Matthias Urbanski (22), Noah Form (3)

16:25 YOR Jared Legien (30) ASST: Chantz Petruic (27)

5-2 North Stars, Final.

 

Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1