North Stars, coaches and fans alike have been waiting for this to happen since the calendar turned to 2011, but perhaps two players, Blake Tatchell and Colin Phaneuf are the happiest to have shaken their slumps.
"We (Phanuef and Tatchell) were down on ourselves and maybe a bit down on each other and it means the world to us to get a couple goals tonight," said Phaneuf after Tuesday night's breakout game. "Now we just have to keep rolling with it and working hard. They say 'hard work pays off for everything.' So as long as we keep working hard hopefully things will go well for us."
Tatchell had two goals and four assists, while Phaneuf and line mate Cole Gibson each had two goals and two assists in the North Stars 8-3 win over the Flin Flon Bombers Tuesday at the Civic Centre.
That win put the North Stars in control of their own destiny, as far as clinching fourth place goes. Wednesday night, in a make up game in Nipawin, the North Stars clinched home ice advantage in the survivor series with a 6-4 win.
Tuesday, the North Stars first line started with Cole Gibson scoring 13 seconds into the game after Tatchell fished out a rebound and made a beautiful spin pass for the open net tap in.
Phaneuf increased the North Stars' lead later in the first period, but it was the North Stars' killer, Andrew Johnston, scoring on a rebound on the powerplay to make it a 2-1 game.
Tim Rollins capped off a good cycle by line mates Tanner Schwab and Mitch Galbraith to give the Battlefords a 3-1 lead, which they held heading into the second period.
Four minutes into the second, while shorthanded, Phaneuf received a pass from Brody Luhning in the slot and made no mistake, scoring on the three-on-one rush to increase the lead.
Gibson added a powerplay goal later in the second period after Luhning led the rush again a set up an easy cross crease tap in.
Brett Penner answered for the Bombers late in the second period on the powerplay, but the North Stars held a 5-2 lead heading into the third.
Twenty-five seconds into the third, the Bombers looked to make a game of it, as Johnston beat Birch, but that was as close as they would come.
Tatchell scored two goals, one on the powerplay, and Keith Grondin put the icing on the cake with his team leading 33rd goal of the season.
The crowd of 1,078 was treated to a good hockey game, one of the best, most complete efforts from the North Stars this season. The hard work and hockey smarts were there as well as the playoff-like intensity.
There was also some physical fireworks in the third period, as Travis Sparrow bloodied James McNulty after a scrum ensued around the North Stars' net and the two partnered up for a spirited fight.
It looked like a sign of things to come in the final seven minutes of the game, but the North Stars showed great discipline. Kyle Birch declined an offer to fight Bombers backup goalie Randy Graham, who came in to replace P.J. Musico after the seventh North Stars' goal. The fourth line also did a great job of fore checking and avoided any mix ups with the Bombers fourth line in the final minutes.
"We had a game plan and the guys followed it pretty close," said North Stars head coach and general manager Ken Pearson. "We wanted to get off to a good start, which we did. We wanted to play disciplined tonight, which we kind of struggled with a little bit early in the game, but we went to the net hard tonight and I thought we capitalized on our opportunities."
Pearson also commended his team for their level heads late in the game knowing simply it "wasn't the time or the place."
"We know we are going to play these guys again," said Pearson. "We don't need to give them anything to get going. We wanted them to just go home quietly and know when they come back here our guys will do pretty much the same."
The breakout performance by Tatchell and Phaneuf was a welcomed sight for the North Stars and something they hope to continue. Tatchell had two goals and seven assists in the previous two games against Flin Flon and Phaneuf had two goals and four assists.
"We came out first shift of the game, we knew, especially my line of Tatchell and Gibson, that we have to step up offensively and I think we did that tonight (Tuesday)," said Phaneuf. "We have been in a slump as of late and so it is good to get back rolling and hopefully things go well for us."
Things continued to go well for the top line of the North Stars, as Gibson scored a hat trick in Nipawin Wednesday while Phaneuf had three assists and Tatchell added one.
After going down 1-0, Gibson's scored his first on a powerpay to tie the game, but before the first ended, the Hawks reclaimed the lead and carried it into the intermission.
A dynamite second period of four goals started 44 seconds in for the North Stars. Luhning scored the teams' second powerplay goal of the game. Gibson added two goals in the second and Grondin added one. The Hawks beat Birch once, but trailed 5-3 heading into the third.
Galbraith scored in the third, but that was matched by a Nipawin powerplay goal. Nonetheless, Birch earned his 15th win of the season and the North Stars will head into the playoffs as the fourth place team in the division.
The season wraps up with a home game Friday against Kindersley and a return game against the Klippers Tuesday.
