Klips vs. Stars Live Blog

6:54 p.m.: Warmup is underway. It's so weird seeing Down and Tabin wearing 22 and 24. Just finished reading the first SJHL Overtime magazine of the season. It has previews for every team, written by their local radio/newspaper guy. Good to know what I wrote about other teams in my Sherwood preview was on the money.

7:00: Half an hour to game time and I have goosebumps. There is nothing in the world like a season opener.

7:20: Lights have dimmed. Here come the North Stars player introductions. Vince Sauvie is in the line-up wearing #25.

7:25: Klippers' starting line-up is Dommett, Calkins, Adamyk, Leedahl, Flanagan, Hellyer.

I'll only be posting period recaps from here on out.

8:02: What a finish to the period for the Klips. Colin Phaneuf had scored with 3:08 left to put Battlefords ahead 1-0. In the final two minutes, Kurt Leedahl put the Klippers ahead all by himself. His first goal came with 1:57 left when he lobbed a soft wrister from the right point past Sirard off the face-off. He had just finished a 30-second argument with ref Kyle Paulsen. Then, with 19.9 seconds left and the Klips on the power play, Leeds struck again with a wrist shot from the outer edge of the left circle.

After 20 minutes, Kindersley leads 2-1 and also has the edge in shots at 11-10. Both teams have had one PP. It was a very sluggish start for the visitors, with the Stars dominating most of the first 12 minutes or so. The Klippers started to push back and really started to roll once their timing kicked in. There's also a bit of bad news, as Riley Down left the game at the 14-minute mark. It looked like possibly his shoulder, but I can't say for sure.

Brett Penner and Pearce Gourley both look great out there. Both guys have been physical and making some smart plays, especially Penner. Sanfred King's line logged a ton of minutes in the period - I'd say as many as the Calkins unit - and was in on both of Leedahl's goals. King assisted on both and Jesse Mysiorek had a helper on the second goal.

8:54: It's Stars 4, Klippers 3 after two periods. Penalty trouble hurt the Klips big time in period two, although I'm at a loss for why a couple of them were called. I'll just put this out there - Kyle Paulsen is the same ref who called eight straight penalties against the Klips in a game against Nipawin last year.

Cade Kimery tied the game 2-2 at the 7:15 mark, beating Hellyer with a wrister from the top of the left circle on a 5-on-3. Pearce Gourley was already in the box when John Sonntag facewashed Colin Phaneuf in front of the Klipper net and also got the gate, giving the Stars a two-man advantage of about 1:40.

Only 35 seconds after that, with Sonntag still in the box, Shayne Morrissey one-timed a centering pass past Hellyer to give the home side a 3-2 lead. But Andrew Dommett tied it up less than two minutes later, converting a rebound to the left of Alexandre Sirard.

With five minutes left in the period, Taylor Wasden was called for slashing and the Stars regained the lead on Brett Miller's low shot from between the dots.

Battlefords also had a pair of near misses. Only 57 seconds into the period, they had a goal called back because Phaneuf had bowled over Scott Hellyer. And late in the period, Miller had a half empty net but hit the left post.

In total, the Klippers received five penalties in the frame compared to zero for Battlefords. They will be shorthanded for the first 43 seconds of the third thanks to a slashing call on Lance Tabin. Shots are 26-22 KIN.

9:44: Andrew Dommett just scored with 27.4 seconds left to give the Klips a 7-6 win. The puck bounced off of someone up front, right to Dommett at Sirard's left, leaving the tender helpless. Calkins was penalized with 6.4 seconds left but the Klips held on.

Other goal scorers were Shay Neufeld, Sanfred King, Brett Penner, Tim Rollins and Braeden Adamyk.

More later tonight when we get to the hotel in PA.