If the Norman Northstars made a New Year's resolution to play better defence, they got off to a rocky start in their first games of 2010.
The Northstars dropped a pair of home games to the Pembina Valley Hawks Jan. 2-3 at C.A. Nesbitt Arena, and were outscored 18-3, opening the year by getting shut out 8-0, then following it up with a 10-3 loss on Sunday.
The Northstars' record now stands at 12-20-1. They have fallen five points behind the fourth-place Winnipeg Thrashers in the East Division, but remain ahead of basement dwellers the Kenora Thistles. To earn a home playoff series, the Northstars need to finish fourth or higher.
The Hawks scored three times on goaltender Mitchell Backhouse in the opening 11 minutes of the Jan. 2 affair, as Kevin Coloumbe put his team on the board with their fifth shot at 15:21. That was followed by a Christian Savard marker 1:43 later, with Brock Vanderveen rounding out first period scoring at 9:53 with Pembina Valley playing two men short. Shots in the opening frame were 16-3 for the Hawks.
The second period was even worse for the home team, as they gave up five goals - a pair to Brian Michiels and one each to Coloumbe, Jared Morris and Jory Mullin. It would have been even worse had Backhouse not stopped a penalty shot with 58.4 seconds left in the period. Shots actually favoured the Northstars, by a margin of 13-12.
Ryan Delorme replaced Backhouse in the third period, which saw the Northstars once more generate just three shots on net, while the Hawks directed just seven at Delorme as they played defensively to preserve Reed Peters' shutout.
The Northstars got behind from the get-go again Sunday afternoon, allowing three goals against Delorme in the first half of the first period, scored by Savard, Paul Remilliard and Mullin, who finished the game with two goals. Mitch Doell added another for the Hawks with 5:09 left before the break, the first of three goals for him on the game.
The second period was another Hawks' goal-fest, with scores by Doell, Mullin, Vanderveen, Riley Hiebert and Michiels. Ryan Templeton, called up from the midget AA King Miners, broke Peters' bid for a second straight shutout with three minutes left, on his first goal as a Norman Northstar. Phillip Verreault added his first goal as Northstar midway through the third to make it 9-2 before Doell's hat trick marker put the Hawks into double digits. Dylan Hykawy had the last goal of the game, scoring on a power play wrister from the slot with 6:56 to play. Shots in the game were 51-29 in favour of Pembina Valley.
The Hawks played the series without leading scorer Michael Sofillas and goaltender Tyler Oswald, who were competing with Team West at the World U17 Challenge in Timmins, Ont.
The 10 goals against Sunday were the most surrendered by the Northstars this season, while the eight-goal margin of loss the previous night was the biggest of the season.
The Northstars return to action Jan. 8-9 when they host the Central Plains Capitals.
Their record at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena now stands at 4-10.
