The wins keep coming for the maroon and white - even if it took some bonus hockey to get there. The Bombers picked up a 4-3 overtime win on family night at the Whitney Forum.
The night's festivities started with a pregame ceremony honouring players' families and their local billet families. On the ice, the Bombers would be met with another reunion of sorts - they'd be playing against former Bomber netminder Jared Thompson, who got sent to the Millionaires earlier this year when Max Hildebrand's arrival made the crease one player too full. Thompson and Hildebrand would both start for their respective teams.
The Bombers fell behind in the first, with Melville's Jonathan Krahn pouncing on a puck after an odd-man rush to make it 1-0 Mils. Flin Flon had two wide-open chances against Thompson, but neither ended with goals.
Flin Flon tied it up in the second, with Nathan Flodell getting his first SJHL goal about four minutes in, but that was tempered about 30 seconds later with Zach Cain restoring Melville's one-goal lead, sneaking one past Hildebrand. Flin Flon would tie things back up later though, with Brent Wieschorster getting his first goal as a Bomber late in the frame. Melville did manage to beat Hildebrand with a tipped shot in the final minute of the second, but that goal was waved off - a nearby ref immediately called "no goal" due to a high stick.
The third started with more back and forth action, with Flin Flon finally gaining the upper hand. After a six-car pileup at the side of the net, Mason Kaspick picked up a loose puck in the slot and fired it into an open net. Melville protested and Kaspick was hurt in the ensuing melee, but the Bombers ended up with a 3-2 lead.
Late in the third, with Thompson on the Melville bench, Melville sought to tie things up. With a stretch pass firing the puck up from Melville's own zone, Cain took a long shot on Hildebrand that squeaked through his pads, long enough for Zach McIntyre to poke it in and tie the game with 48 seconds to go.
This one went to overtime. With 3-on-3 the mode of play, the Bombers started strong and withheld a Melville surge. After the Millionaires overcommitted on a play that Hildebrand stopped, the Bombers broke out on a 3-on-1. After some zig-zag passing, Nathan Gagne got the last touch and made no mistake, ending the night with a Bomber win.
Hildebrand got another win with 36 saves made, while Thompson made 50 stops against his former teammates.
The win keeps the Bombers in second place in both the league and the Sherwood division with a 9-3 record and 18 points, only one point down on the first-place Melfort Mustangs.
Flin Flon will now head on their first big southern road trip in two seasons, playing four games in five nights against the Millionaires, Estevan, Notre Dame and Weyburn from Oct. 19-23.
