The Flin Flon Bombers improved their preseason record to 3-2 with a 5-4 shootout win over the Nipawin Hawks on Tuesday.
Dean Allison scored the winner in the sixth round of the shootout. Allison, who was named the team captain shortly after the game, also scored in regulation.
Griffin Mason, Chris Rauckman and Tyson Empey tallied as well for Flin Flon. Empey’s goal in the final minute of the third period capped off a six-goal frame.
For the second game in a row, head coach Mike Reagan said the team got off to a slow start.
“Towards the end of the first period we started to play better,” he said. “Dean Allison’s line played very well tonight and showed a lot of character. I thought Zach Garrett played well tonight. Braden Lacoursiere played pretty good for the most part.”
The Bombers came from behind twice to tie the game in the third period before Allison scored the winner in the shootout.
While it wasn’t the way Reagan would have liked to win, there were a lot of positives in the game.
“It’s good to have these types of wins, even in exhibition,” said Reagan. “You’re going to have nights where you don’t play your best hockey, but you find a way to win. We can’t just say tonight’s not our night. It shows the guys that the game is never really over, and the guys were real positive on the bench.”
With one exhibition game remaining, Reagan will be expecting his players to dig a little deeper come opening night.
“It’s frustrating because I’d like to see us a little further ahead than what we are,” he said. “We’re not panicking. We know we’ve got a good hockey team, and there’s a lot of good players here. We’ve just got to start playing more consistent.”
The Bombers will have one more exhibition game to come together as a team, when they take on the Swan Valley Stampeders at the Whitney Forum tonight. The Stamps beat the Bombers in a shoot out on Sunday.
“We’re looking for our best performance of the exhibition season,” said Reagan. “We will have one of our better line-ups in. I think a lot of our veterans are eager to get the regular season going. They’ve been going hard at it here for three weeks and I think we’ve given them two days off.”
