The Bombers got back going Saturday night, beating their archrivals, clinching the season series and gaining more ground in the hunt for playoff home ice.
Flin Flon picked up a 5-3 victory at the Whitney Forum over La Ronge, getting a big offensive boost in the second period and gaining a much-needed two points.
La Ronge's Parker Fofonoff opened the scoring halfway through the first period, but the Bombers' Cole Duperreault tied things up later in the frame. Both teams traded goals as the period wore on, with Bryan Gilman giving La Ronge the lead briefly before Xavier Lapointe tied things up late. A crowd gathered in the first when Bomber goalie Cal Schell was run by a La Ronge player and upended, but Schell recovered and stayed in the game.
The floodgates opened in period two, starting with Zak Smith 28 seconds in, engaging in some light Smith-on-Smith crime by popping a puck past La Ronge goalie Dawson Smith. Duperrerault beat Dawson Smith clean later in the period with a high-slot wrister and Brett Wieschorster converted a two-on-one to give Flin Flon a 5-2 lead.
Brandon Della Paolera stopped the bleeding late in the third period getting the Ice Wolves within two, but that would be as close as the Ice Wolves would get. Schell was run again late in the third, leading to gloves flying and punches thrown, but once more, Schell stayed in the game.
Schell got the win with 24 saves, while Smith made 42 saves on 47 shots.
The Bombers got a little help in the standings Saturday night from the Kindersley Klippers, who beat Battlefords 4-2. That result pushed the Bombers back up from fifth in the league to fourth, back into a home-ice advantage playoff spot. Despite Kindersley winning, a win by the Notre Dame Hounds meant the Klippers would be pipped to the SJHL's last playoff spot, eliminating them from playoff contention.
The Bombers, Stars and Melfort Mustangs have been trading the third, fourth and fifth spots in the standings in recent weeks. The Mustangs made the math more interesting by beating Nipawin 4-3, putting them at 73 points with two games left. The Bombers, who sit fourth with 71 points, play three more games - two against Melfort and one against Battlefords, who sit fifth with 70 points with four games to go.
Flin Flon's win over La Ronge also ends the Ice Wolves' regular season - with 63 points, the Ice Wolves will either finish sixth or seventh. The Bombers' Saturday night win means the Bombers won six of the two teams' 10 meetings this year.
Flin Flon plays its last home game of the season Tuesday against the Mustangs before heading to Melfort for a rematch Thursday, then going to North Battleford for a regular season-ending date with the Stars Friday night.
