It took a shootout for the Battlefords North Stars to come through with a 5-4 win over the Melfort Mustangs on the road Wednesday night.
It was Rylan Nivon who scored the winning marker in the shoot out frame to lift the North Stars to the victory. Nivon also scored the tying goal late in the third period to force the game to overtime.
But it was quite a hole that the North Stars dug themselves early in the game. Melfort’s Tyson Meyers opened the scoring before Carson Reagan tied it up, but Melfort added two more from Kenzie Arnold and Zach Smith on power play goals to make it 3-1 through one.
The North Stars got one back when Kaden Boser scored on the power play, with Matthew Fletcher and Nivon assisting, early in the second. But Kenzie Arnold scored shorthanded at the 13 minute mark to restore the two-goal lead for Melfort.
But the North Stars came back to tie it late in the third on goals from Quintin Loon-Stewardson and by Nivon, both with under three minutes left in the game.
There was no scoring in overtime and Nivon’s goal was the only one scored in the shootout to win it.
The North Stars outshot the Mustangs 48-36 with Adam Dmyterko getting the win on a 32-save performance. Dmyterko is also coming off SJHL Goaltender of the Week honours for his weekend performances against both Estevan and Weyburn, including a shutout versus the Bruins and a 23-of-24 save performance versus the Red Wings.
The North Stars are now 11-1 on the season, in first place in the entire SJHL with a five-point cushion over the Mustangs. The latest CJHL rankings released this week had the North Stars ranked fifth in the country as of Oct. 7.
