Terriers Continue Road Trip Against Battlefords
Photo Credit: Simple Shots By Jackie Story Coming In:
Last weekend, the Terriers went 1-1 to start their seven game road trip. In Flin Flon, the Terriers ran into a hot goaltender in Cal Schell, before playing one of their best games of the season in La Ronge to defeat the Ice Wolves 5-2. The game against the Ice Wolves was significant for a number of reasons. The Terriers snapped a goalless drought that almost reached 150 minutes, they snapped an 0/30 run on the power-play, and they tied a season high for goals in a single game. Now, the focus turns onto Battlefords. The last time these two teams collided was at the Westland Insurance Arena, where both goalies put on a show in a 1-0 Yorkton shootout win. The game saw Kael DePape post his first career SJHL shutout. Now, Yorkton heads to the Access Communications Centre for the first time since November of 2019, looking to silence the league’s top offence, once again.
View From Battlefords:
The loss against the Terriers triggered a three game losing streak for the North Stars which saw losses to Estevan and Humboldt. However, the offence has since come to life and Battlefords roared to a 3-1 win over Melfort and a 6-5 shootout win over Notre Dame. Steven Kesslering has been on fire in the two wins, posting four goals, including a hat-trick against Notre Dame. The offence is the best in the league, scoring an SJHL high 72 goals, and Kesslering along with Jake Southgate are tied for 4th in the league in points. The North Stars may have also found some stability in net with the newly acquired Michael Harroch, who, since arriving in North Battleford, has put up a 2-1-0-1 record with a 2.64 goals against average and a 0.925 save percentage. Revenge will be on the minds of the North Stars tonight, as they look to take the lead in the four game season series between these two teams.
Recognized Defenceman:
It’s been a career year for Tanner Sklaruk. Not only has the Stony Plain, Alberta native scored his first two career SJHL goals this season, but he has formed a formidable defensive pairing with Tyson Perkins. The 20-year-old’s hard work was recognized this week, as Sklaruk was named defender of the week by the SJHL. In his final season of junior hockey on the team his father used to play for, Sklaruk will look to continue to lead the Terriers by forming a strong defensive core with Perkins, Tyson Janzen and Parker Jasper.
Tale of the Tape
Yorkton Terriers (6-9-0-0 – 12 points) Battlefords North Stars (10-5-1-1 – 22 points)
2nd Viterra Division/ T-9th SJHL 2nd Global Ag Risk Division/ 5th SJHL
Powerplay: 6/67 – 9.0% (12th SJHL) Powerplay: 10/56 – 17.9% (7th SJHL)
Penalty Kill: 61/72 – 84.7% (6th SJHL) Penalty Kill: 54/73 – 74.0% (12th SJHL)
Last Ten: 5-5-0-0 Streak: 1-0-0-0 Last Ten: 5-4-0-1 Streak: 2-0-0-0
Stats Leaders For Yorkton:
Goals: Gervais (6)
Assists: Sleeva (7)
Points: Sleeva (10)
PIM: Norum (38)
Goalie: DePape 6-4-0-0, 1.69, 0.935%