The La Ronge Ice Wolves clawed their way back from a two-goal deficit, but it was not enough as the Battlefords North Stars beat La Ronge 4-3 in overtime Tuesday at the Mel Hegland Uniplex.
“To be honest, I thought we were the better team for most of the night,” said Ice Wolves Asst. Coach Kyle Schneider. “They got a few goals on some missed defensive assignments, but we had a ton of chances to score too.”
The North Stars opened the scoring at the 1:10 mark of the contest when Brad Blake beat Dawson Smith, who turned away 46 shots in a losing cause.
Holden Doell gave the North Stars a 2-0 edge 11:41 into the second after he tallied his 21st of the campaign. The Ice Wolves notched their first of the evening 14:58 into the middle stanza when Trenton Curtis tapped in his 13th of the season past Justen Maric, who made 40 saves for the victory. North Battleford took a 3-1 advantage with 1:52 remaining in the second period when Zane Florence found the back of the cage.
La Ronge cut the lead to one 4:20 into the third when Dallyn Peekeekoot drove the net and scored his fourth of the campaign. With Dawson Smith on the bench, Kaycee Coyle ripped home his seventh of the season when he sent a blistering shot from the point past Maric with 46 seconds remaining in regulation, which tied the game at three and forced overtime.
In the extra session, Holden Doell connected on a power play at the 2:45 mark, giving the North Stars the extra point.
“I thought we were the better team for most of the night, we took it to them in the offensive zone,” said Ice Wolves defenceman Liam McInnis. “They’re a good team, a couple of key mistakes in the defensive zone and they buried. We’ve got to be a little bit better, but I’m happy with our effort.”
After earning a single point Tuesday, the Ice Wolves moved into third place in the SJHL standings with their 22-13-4 record.
La Ronge will look to rebound Friday night at home when they welcome the Estevan Bruins to town for a 7:30 p.m. puck drop at the Mel Hegland Uniplex.
The Ice Wolves will host Estevan on Saturday before finishing a busy week Sunday against the Notre Dame Hounds on home ice.
