Despite two strong efforts over the weekend at the Civic Centre, the Battlefords Stars find themselves in the exact same spot that they were in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League standings earlier in the week.
After a 7-2 win Saturday over the Notre Dame Argos and a 7-4 loss to the Swift Current Legionnaires Sunday, the 14-21-1-0 Stars remain in ninth place and are now four points back of the 14-19-1-3 Saskatoon Blazers for the eighth and final playoff spot.
“We played a great game Saturday where we did really well on offence, but we made too many mistakes and let Swift Current back into the game on Sunday,” Stars head coach Norm Johnston said.
“We battled our way back a number of times, but we got caught up the ice pressuring on offence and we ended up giving up two-on-one rushes the other way. Swift Current has a strong offensive team and you can’t give them those chances.”
Although the Stars are still looking to gain ground in the playoff race, the big talking point of the weekend was a pair of dominating performances by second-year forward Adam Beckman.
The Spokane Chiefs prospect stole the show Saturday night with four goals and two assists and followed that up with three goals and an assist Sunday afternoon.
“My teammates played a huge part in what I was able to do more than anything that I did,” Beckman said after Saturday’s win. “Everyone’s feeding the puck to each other and we were able to capitalize on our opportunities.”
“He was outstanding,” Johnston said. “Not only was he great on offence, but he played great on defence and we put him in some key roles on both the power play and the penalty kill.”
Although his 10-point weekend gave him 61 points for the season and puts him a single marker behind Jaydon Dureau of the Regina Pat Canadians for first place in the league scoring race, Beckman was arguably more excited about a late goal scored Saturday by Brendan Albert, which was his first as a member of the Stars.
“Brendan’s a great guy and he’s been working hard ever since he came up to play here,” Beckman said.
“He’s always giving everything he has in practice both on and off the ice, so to see him get that first goal was awesome.”
Ty Mosimann opened up the scoring for the Stars, who received a three-assist performance from Matthew Flodell and 37-save showing from goaltender Carter Serhyenko.
Blake Rasmuson and Keaton Sorenson scored for the Argos, who reside at the bottom of the SMAAAHL standings with a 5-32-0-0 record.
While Sunday’s pushback was something that Johnston like to see out of his group, the hole that the Stars dug themselves in against the Legionnaires as they look to claw their way into the post-season in their final eight regular season contests.
“We have one line right now that’s scoring, so when we are at a point where it’s a one goal game late, we just need to hang out and wait for our top line to get their scoring chances,” Johnston said.
“With three affiliated players on defence, it can be a challenge to try and slow down the other team on offence when they have strong depth. Swift Current has three really good lines and Prince Albert has the same thing, so we need to be more consistent in that end of the ice.”
Flodell had the other goal for the Stars in the loss, which saw Mosimann pick up three assists to put him in third in league scoring with 58 points.
Hunter Lamb had three assists to lead the way for the Legionnaires, who have a 23-10-3-0 record and are in fifth place in the standings.
Mac Gross, Rin Beny, Owen Ozar, Ty Muench, Chase Gallant, Riley Dekowny and Jacob Piller all scored for the visitors, who chased Stars starting netminder Joseph Young from the game in the first period.
The Stars will wrap up a four-game home stand Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against the Prince Albert Mintos.
“We got a tricky road ahead of us if we want to make the playoffs,” Johnston said.
“It’s been a tough year. When you have two of the top five scorers in the league, but you also have the most penalty minutes out of all 12 teams, it just doesn’t correlate.”
After Wednesday’s game with the Mintos, the Stars will head out on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 6 to face the Saskatoon Contacts before playing the Yorkton Maulers on Feb. 10 and 11.
They’ll return to the Civic Centre for their final home game of the regular season on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. against the Beardy’s Blackhawks.
Following a road game against the Mintos on Thursday, Feb. 15, the Stars will conclude their regular season schedule with a pair of games on the road against the Moose Jaw Generals on Saturday, Feb. 17 and Sunday, Feb. 18.
