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Northstars beat Thrashers for fourth win of the season

With only a handful of games left in the regular season, the midget AAA Norman Northstars showed that they still have some gas left in the tank this past weekend. On Feb.
The Norman Northstars celebrate their 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Thrashers at the C.A. Nesbitt Ar
The Norman Northstars celebrate their 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Thrashers at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena Feb. 16.

With only a handful of games left in the regular season, the midget AAA Norman Northstars showed that they still have some gas left in the tank this past weekend.

On Feb. 16, the Northstars faced off against the Winnipeg Thrashers in front of a buzzing Munn Cup crowd at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena and got the better of the fifth-place team by shutting down their offence.

Even though the Thrashers came out strong in the first period, the Northstars quickly answered back with a strong defensive formation, relegating most their opponents’ shots to the perimeter.

Besides employing some great backchecking and penalty kill strategies, the Northstars also kept the Winnipeg team off the scoreboard thanks to goaltender Braedin Melsted, who stopped nearly every shot that came his way.

After 40 minutes of scoreless action, Northstars forward Keistin Saunders finally snuck a goal past Thrashers goaltender Dawson Rattai at the beginning of the third period. A couple minutes later the Thrashers got mixed up in some penalty trouble, which allowed Jordan Pfoh to take full advantage and secure his team a solid 2–0 lead.

While the Thrashers managed to close the gap to 2–1 with five minutes left in the game it wouldn’t be enough, and the Northstars would hold on to capture their fourth win of the 2017–18 regular season.

“From start to finish it was a fantastic hockey game for anyone,” said head coach James Buchanan. “The action was back and forth both ways and there was really good defensive hockey throughout the whole game.”

This latest win was particularly elating to Buchanan, since it represents his team’s first victory against a Winnipeg team in at least their last two regular seasons.

Unfortunately, the Northstars’ defence wasn’t as sharp the following night, when they allowed 71 shots on their own net and would fall to the Thrashers by a final score of 12–5.

Saturday’s matchup started out fairly competitive, with the Winnipeg team holding a slight 3–2 lead midway through the second period. However, the Northstars’ defence suffered a major breakdown and allowed two goals within the space of six seconds, which crippled the team’s confidence and momentum for the rest of the contest. 

The Thrashers buried another seven goals, while the Northstars notched three in response, leading to a decisive 12–5 final for Winnipeg.

Following this latest series of matchups, the Northstars only have two games left in the regular season, which will be contested against the third-place Winnipeg Bruins Feb. 23–24 at the C.A. Nesbit Arena at 7:30 p.m.

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