A slow start out of the gates proved to be the difference, as the La Ronge Ice Wolves dropped a 4-3 decision to the North Stars on Friday in North Battleford.
“You can’t dig yourself a hole against a good team like that and expect to win the game,” said Ice Wolves Associate Coach Gaelan Patterson. “I think we definitely outplayed them for 40 minutes there though. We started doing things right, we started getting on pucks, getting aggressive, being more of the dictators out there.”
The North Stars took a 1-0 lead 4:30 into the game when Hunter Partsch rifled a shot five-hole on Steven Bacovsky, who finished his evening with 20 saves in the loss. Battlefords went up 2-0 11:36 into the first following a Rylan Nivon marker. The North Stars took a 3-0 advantage 17:47 into the game when Ryland McNinch banked home a rebound in tight.
The North Stars made it a 4-0 game just 22 seconds into the second after Brett Gammer tallied on a breakaway shorthanded. A few minutes later, La Ronge’s Macrae Setoguchi dropped the mitts with Logan Spence after delivering a thunderous hit. The scrap appeared to change the momentum, as the Ice Wolves looked like a motivated club after.
The Ice Wolves finally got on the board 5:10 into the second when Jake Gudjonson tucked home his fourth of the season past Adam Dmyterko, who made 35 stops for the win. The Ice Wolves cut the lead to two 12:24 into the stanza on the power play when Ben Manson hammered home his first of the season from the left point.
La Ronge made it a 4-3 contest 3:37 into the third when Zach Bannister took a feed from Daylon Mannon and wired home his sixth of the campaign. Bannister’s goal was as close as the Ice Wolves would get though, as they dropped their third straight game.
After being outshot 15-6 in the first, the Ice Wolves responded in a big way and outshot the North Stars 32-9 in the last 40 minutes of the contest. La Ronge had nine chances on the power play, but they were only able to find the back of the net once when working on the man advantage Friday.
“We had that five-on-three there the last few minutes, so another great opportunity to tie it up,” said Ice Wolves Associate Coach Gaelan Patterson. “It just didn’t go our way, I think the guys were working hard, definitely the last 40 minutes. We have to have 60 minutes, especially against a team like the Battlefords.”
With the loss, the Ice Wolves slipped to 7-10-2 on the season, which now has them occupying seventh place in the overall standings. La Ronge will try to close out their road trip on a positive note Saturday evening in North Battleford when they tangle with the North Stars for the second straight night.
You can catch Saturday’s game live on MBC Network Radio with Braden Malsbury. The pre-game show is set to get underway at 7:15 p.m.
(PHOTO: The Ice Wolves made their first trip of the season to North Battleford Friday. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)