Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The Iron Horse Kindersley Klippers are out on the road for four games, and the team is looking to build on a momentous win last week in North Battleford.
The Klippers had not played in seven days before last night’s Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League game against the Yorkton Terriers, but a game on Jan. 22 led to a 6-0 win on the road versus the Battlefords North Stars. The win moved Kindersley back into first place in the Global Ag Risk Solutions division.
The game last night in Yorkton was the first of four games in five days on the team’s road trip. The result could not be published due to the Clarion’s editorial deadline on Tuesdays. Kindersley is back in action tonight versus the Melville Millionaires.
[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see this week’s print edition of The Clarion.’]
The Klippers have a day off tomorrow before they play back-to-back against the same two teams on Friday and Saturday. Kindersley plays on Feb. 1 in Yorkton, and on Feb. 2 in Melville.
Justen Close earned his third shutout of the season by stopping all 36 shots he faced on Jan. 22 in North Battleford. Kindersley was held to 26 shots, but the team went 2-for-7 on the power play as part of the 6-0 win.
Kyle Bosch opened the scoring with an unassisted goal in the first period, and it was his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Cameron Shorrock and Noah Bankowski added to the lead in the second period and third period goals by Ty Enns, Austin Nault and Will Van der Sloot capped off the win for Kindersley.
The North Stars pulled their goalie at about the halfway mark of the third period, and it did not take long for Enns to deposit the puck into the empty net. Enns recorded an assist for the only two-point night for Kindersley.
Kindersley had an overall record of 26-11-3-2 in 42 games prior to last night’s game in Yorkton. With a total of 57 points, the team was one point ahead of Battlefords in the division and five points behind the Nipawin Hawks for first in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Kindersley had played two fewer games than Nipawin.
Given the long layoff between games, coach Clayton Jardine said on Monday that the team had two good practices on Thursday and Friday before resting over the weekend. He said the team had a good skate on Monday in preparation for the road trip.
The Klippers lost 3-1 to the North Stars in Kindersley on Jan. 18 and followed it up with the win in North Battleford. Jardine said Close played well, but the whole team played better and it paid off on the score sheet.
“Our effort level was the biggest difference,” he said, recognizing that the guys showed up and they wanted to battle. “The puck just went in. As simple as it sounds, it is the truth. The puck just went in the net and it was good to see.”
Enns has averaged 1.28 points per game in 18 games with the Klippers, and Jardine said he was an important part of the win. Enns sat out against the North Stars in the 3-1 loss and the coach said it is nice to have him in the lineup because opponents focus on him and it relieves the pressure on other players.
[/emember_protected]
