TRAVERSE CITY -- The Traverse City North Stars won their fourth straight game to extend their hold on first place in the North Division on Saturday night.
The Stars doubled up Alpena 4-2 to take a three-point lead over Marquette in the division with a game in hand.
Alpena outshot the Stars 34-18, but was 0-for-8 on the power play against a Stars defense that had given up 21 goals in 94 short-handed situations (22 percent) this season.
Drew Strandburg played a part in that, stopping 32 of 34 shots he faced.
Andy Huff scored the first period's only goal (Curtis Heinz and Travis White assisted). After Alpena knotted it back up in the second, Tim Opie put the Stars back on top to stay with a goal assisted by Nick Shkreli and Doug Clifford. Shkreli then added one of his own off a Clifford assist for a 3-1 bulge before the IceDiggers struck again.
Dan Radke's empty-netter with a minute to go sealed the victory. The Stars outscored Alpena 2-1 in the final period despite a whopping 19-4 disparity in shots on net.
The three stars of the game were Strandberg, Opie and Shkreli.
The North Stars travel to Janesville next weekend for a pair of games. The Jets (10-9-0) are in third place, five points behind Traverse City, which has won five of its last six.
Print this story
E-mail this story
