The struggles continue for the Weyburn Red Wings as the regular season winds down. Fighting for their playoff lives, the Wings were downed 5–1 on home ice by the Battlefords North Stars. 

It was a game that didn't have much action, but the Red Wings did have their chances throughout but just couldn't find a way to score. Will Cruise scored the lone goal off a dump-in that redirected in off the Stars' goaltenders leg, but that was the only fortunate bounce all night for the red and white. That cut the lead to 3–1 and would be as close the Wings would get on Friday night.

The top line for the North Stars was a handful all night and they produced the first two goals for Battlefords. Macgregor Sinclair scored his 26th in the first period, while Owen Lamb netted his 25th in the second to give the Stars the early advantage. Ryan Gil would add a powerplay marker to stretch the lead to 3–0 before the aforementioned Cruise goal.

An 0–4 night with the man advantage didn't do the Red Wings any favours, including two missed opportunities late in the second period. Stars affiliate goaltender Adam Dmyterko was solid in goal for the visitors and made 21 saves in the win.

Cody Levesque started for the Wings and made 28 stops on 32 shots. The fourth Stars goal was a questionable goalie interference non-call that sealed the game for Battlefords. They added an empty-netter with 15 seconds to play. 

An eighth straight defeat combined with a Melville shootout loss pushes Weyburn to three points back of the final playoff spot. That sets up the biggest game of the season on Saturday night, when the Wings travel to Melville to square off with the Millionaires. It's essentially a do-or-die game for the Wings.

It's the first of two straight against the Millonaires and will undoubdtedly be a playoff atmosphere at the Horizone Credit Union Center. You can catch all the action live on BIG 106, with the pre-game show starting at 7:20.