The Battlefords North Stars have the Yorkton Terriers on the brink.
A 3–2 win in Game 5 on Saturday night at Westland Arena—played in front of 1,954 fans—gives Battlefords a 3–2 series lead and a chance to close things out Monday.
For the third time in the series, the North Stars struck first. Cole Hines opened the scoring on the power play midway through the first, getting a piece of a Raiden Zacharias point shot for his second of the playoffs.
Yorkton didn’t take long to answer.
Late in the period, captain Tylan Henrikson took matters into his own hands, driving the puck up ice and finishing the play himself to tie things 1–1 heading into the intermission.
Battlefords came out flying in the second. Just 30 seconds in, Finlay Klippenstein restored the lead, snapping home his sixth of the playoffs from the slot to make it 2–1.
But again, Yorkton responded.
After Callum Creig came up big with a shorthanded breakaway stop on Eric Marks, the Terriers turned it the other way. Moments later, Aidan Vallance buried a loose puck at the top of the crease—his first SJHL playoff goal—to even things up at two.
That set the stage for Hines again.
Off a clean faceoff win off a set play by Alessio Nardelli, Hines jammed home his second of the night at 15:14 of the second, and it would stand as the winner.
Yorkton pushed late with the goalie pulled, including a pair of quality looks from Jye Zawatsky, but Kaeden Serpa shut the door.
Serpa finished with 31 saves in the win, while Creig made 26 in a strong effort at the other end.
Now, the Terriers need a win Monday in North Battleford to keep their season alive and force Game 7 back in Yorkton.
Meanwhile, the Flin Flon Bombers are also one win away from moving on.
They handled the Weyburn Red Wings 5–1 in Game 5 on home ice Saturday, putting themselves in position to reach the SJHL Final for the fourth time in five years.
Flin Flon set the tone early. Reid Arberry and Connor Miller gave the Bombers a 2–0 lead after one, and Kyle Marsden extended it early in the second.
Weyburn showed a brief spark when Jonah Bierd scored on the power play with just one second left in the period, but that was as close as they’d get.
Ryan Ulmer and Maverick Deslisle added third-period goals to seal it.
Charlie Tritt turned aside 19 of 20 shots for the win, while Joey Rocha made 25 saves in the loss.
Now it’s win or go home for the Red Wings.
Game 6 goes Monday in Weyburn, with a Game 7—if needed—back in Flin Flon on Wednesday.
