North Stars' hopes take hit

The Traverse City North Stars dropped a 4-1 decision to defending North American Hockey League champion and league-leading St. Louis on Friday night at Centre ICE.

The loss puts TC four points out of the last playoff spot with three games to go.

"We didn't play good enough to win, plain and simple," Stars coach Anthony Palumbo said. "We gave them way too much respect."

Team USA's 3-0 victory over Marquette puts the Stars four points out of the last postseason berth, with the Rangers a point up on TC.

Marquette and the U-18s face off again today in Ann Arbor, while the Stars and Bandits match up again today as well.

Thompson reeled in the rebound of a Ben Dykstra shot after Dykstra made a nice wide rush. Thompson's top-shelf shot from in tight put TC right back into it at 3-1.

But another whistle on the Stars less than a minute later enabled St. Louis to go up 4-1 just 44 seconds into the advantage and salt the game away.

"Aside from giving up some odd-man rushes in the first, we were able to capitalize on our chances," Bandits coach Jon Cooper said.

The Bandits -- who have already clinched the league's best record and really have little to play for -- didn't dress second-leading scorer Kyle O'Kane (66 points), forward Mike Murray (team-high 144 penalty minutes in 42 games) or second-leading scoring defenseman Jeff Ceccacci (26 points).

Cooper said some of the undressed players were "banged up a little," but didn't say which ones. Murray also missed last weekend's series against Team USA, but O'Kane and Ceccacci had n't previously sat out any games in the month of March.

After being outshot 8-3 in the opening period, the Stars were even at 11-11 in the second, making a push and carrying the play for the last six minutes of the frame, led by the hustling play of Chris Heineman, but not coming up with a goal.

"That was our best eight minutes all night," Palumbo said. "But we came out in the third and get a penalty 17 seconds into a power play. We just didn't get a lot of offense after that."

Kyle Bonis came the closest in the second to putting the Stars on the board, as he beat St. Louis netminder Cal Heeter to the puck on a breakaway and was able to sidestep a diving Heeter and get off an awkward shot on net that forward Sam Bozoian slid in front of to prevent a possible score.

St. Louis had four power plays in the period and came away with only one goal, an even-strength marker by Michigan State-bound forward Ben Warda, who was the recipient of nice tic-tac-toe passing on a rush to bury one 4:45 into the second. Mike Merrifield, also headed to MSU on scholarship, assisted along with Josh Rabbani.

With 2:49 left in the opening stanza, Ben Miller found a wide open net off a rebound and tapped the puck in for a 1-0 St. Louis lead.

TC didn't get its first shot on net until 11 minutes into the game, but it took the Bandits over four to put one on net.

Kyle Bonis almost knotted up the score with a break-away rush that was snuffed by a Heeter pad save with 4:42 left in the first.

St. Louis ended up with a slight 25-22 advantage in shots, but had six powers plays to TC's three. Both Heeter and Stars goalie Brandon Stephenson -- who each wear jersey No. 1 -- made 21 saves.

The Stars don't look much like the team that dropped 11 straight decisions earlier this year, but it could be too little too late for the team to make the playoffs for the second time in the franchise's three seasons.

"The hole we dug is coming back to haunt us ... we've come a long way back," Palumbo said.

"We have to go after them. I feel we played to keep it respectable rather than to win."

The Bandits already have a free pass into the Robertson Cup's Final Four by virtue of hosting the NAHL's finals, so keeping a team with a double-digit points lead on every other squad in the league motivated poses a unique quandary.

"It's always a challenge, but we've had that challenge all year," Cooper said. "The guys know we can't just turn it on at the end. We don't want to be the team that gets into the finals through the back door."

NOTEBOOK: Between the first and second periods of play, each member of the state champion Traverse City North Stars U-19 girls team was announced and came out onto the ice. ... Former Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues star Brett Hull is a part owner of the Bandits, but St. Louis player Mike Hull is not related to the NHL great. Former Blues player Kelly Chase is president of operations for the Bandits. ... The announced attendance was 1,172.

Photos

Traverse City-s Garrett Thompson gets denied by St. Louis goalie Cal Heeter during the first period Friday night. Record-Eagle