Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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It was a hard-fought contest that ended in a shootout, but the Saskatoon Stars weren’t able to hand the Edmonton Junior Oilers their first loss of the Esso Cup.
The Stars, the west region’s representatives at the tournament, battled back from a first-period deficit and held a lead in the third, but ultimately lost to Edmonton 4-3 in the showdown.
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Edmonton got goals from Parker Small and Keira Grant in the shootout, while the Stars couldn’t find a way past Edmonton goaltender Taya Christie.
The loss drops the Stars down to a 1-0-1-1 record at the Canadian Female U18 AAA Hockey Championships. The Jr. Oilers improved to 2-1-0-0 at the tournament and currently hold the top spot.
Saskatoon is back in the Esso Cup for the first time since 2019, when they finished in fourth place. In 2018 the Stars had their best-ever showing at the tournament, winning a silver medal.
Saskatoon finished their Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League season with an 18-8-4-0 record, putting them second place after the regular season. Saskatoon then knocked off the top-seeded Battleford Sharks two games to one in the league finals.
The Stars then when on to defeat the Eastman Selects two games to one in the west regionals to punch their ticket to the 2025 Esso Cup, taking place in Lloydminster. There are some big shoes to fill for the Stars as the west’s representatives, after the Regina Rebels took home the gold medal last year.
The Stars won their opening game of the tournament by defeating the North York Storm 5-4 on Easter Sunday.
But they fell to the Étoiles de Laurentides-Lanaudière 5-2 in their Monday showdown.
On Tuesday, the Stars locked horns with the unbeaten Jr. Oilers, with a chance to jump into the top spot in the standings.
The Stars were down by one after the first period following a goal by Edmonton’s Paige Smith. Saskatoon’s Danielle Steffen answered back later in the frame, but Edmonton once again established their lead with a goal from Grant.
Kolbee Ashe scored the lone goal in the second period to knot things up at two.
Saskatoon gained its first lead of the game in the third period when Halle Duchene scored her first goal of the contest. But Edmonton’s Small scored a goal about five minutes later to tie things at three.
After a scoreless overtime period, a shootout was needed, and Edmonton walked away with the win.
Saskatoon will take on the host Lloydminster Steelers on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
