NORTH BATTLEFORD - A hat trick from Matthew Perkins helped the Humboldt Broncos pull away from the Battlefords North Stars on Friday night at the Access Communications Centre.
The Broncos won 5-1, with two goals in the second and two in the third lifting the Broncos to victory in a showdown for first in the Global Ag Tech Solutions Division.
Perkins got things rolling for the Broncos at 4:41 of the first, scoring from Cage Newans and Ethan Zielke to give Humboldt a 1-0 lead.
Not long after came a scary moment in the game. The gloves came off as the Broncos' Nicksha Eric and the North Stars' Holden Doell dropped the gloves. The fight ended with Eric dropping to the ice, and he remained down on the ice for several minutes, much to the concern of players on both benches.
A stretcher was brought out, but Eric was able to get up and skated off the ice to the dressing room. Both Eric and Doell got major fighting and game misconduct penalties, with Doell getting an aggressor penalty.
After the game resumed, the North Stars were able to tie it on Dace Prymak's sixth of the season at 14:41 from Jake 小蓝视频gate.
The Broncos broke it open in the second as Quinn Myles gave them the lead to stay at 7:22, with Perkins getting his second of the game at 18:57.
In the third, Perkins got the hat trick goal at the 6:05, with Alex Saretzky finishing the scoring at 13:57 with a power play goal after Bradley Blake went to the box for high sticking.
Final shots were 36-25 Broncos, with Rayce Ramsay getting the win and Michael Harroch taking the loss.
With the win, the Broncos extend their lead in the Global Ag Tech Solutions Division to four points over the North Stars. The Broncos have an 11-4-0-0 record for 22 points while the North Stars sit second in the division at 8-5-1-1 for 18 points.
The North Stars return to action right away Saturday in Melfort. The Broncos are home Saturday night to Weyburn.
