ESTEVAN - The Estevan Steelhaus U18 AAA Bears split a pair of one-goal games with the Battlefords Stars during what was a very eventful weekend.
The Bears edged the Stars 5-4 Saturday afternoon in Radville as part of Hockey Day in Saskatchewan festivities.
Arcola’s Carson Birnie led the offensive attack with two goals, including a lacrosse-style goal that opened the scoring and drew lots of attention.
He scooped the puck up with his stick and deposited it into the net on a wrap-around.
Boston Harkness, Tucker Buhay and Ayden Lamarre had the other Estevan goals.
No other details on the game were available.
Estevan lost 7-6 to the Stars Sunday afternoon at Affinity Place in what was the Bears’ first game on home ice in more than two months. It was also Estevan’s inaugural Teddy Bear Toss game.
The Stars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, with Dawson Gerwing, Jakin Lawrence and Dayne Henry tallying for the Stars.
Mashall Light scored for Estevan 5:43 into the second period for the teddy bear toss goal. Fans tossed the bears onto the ice after the goal, and the game was delayed by a few minutes during the cleanup.
The teddy bears will be directed towards the Children’s Miracle Network.
The two teams traded goals the rest of the period, with Daniel Ganert and Carter Tuplin scoring for Estevan and Matthew Dament and Rhett Briltz tallying for the Stars.
Coen Grosjean scored for the Stars early in the third, but goals less than two minutes apart by Lamarre and Blaze Gutzke pulled Estevan to within one. Owen Dyck scored for the Stars to restore the two-goal advantage, but Harkness scored with 6:34 to play in the frame to make it interesting again.
Kaden Perron stopped 25 of the 32 shots he faced for the Bears, while Rhett Harkot made 28 saves on 34 shots for the Stars.
The Bears are slated to visit the Moose Jaw Warriors on Jan. 22, and host the Regina Pat Canadians on Jan. 23 at 2:30 p.m. at Affinity Place.
