Game 1 of the SJHL finals didn't go the Bombers' way. Estevan took a 4-2 win in the series opener.
A minute into the game, Flin Flon was a man up - an Alex van Specken cross-check took down Gabriel Shipper, forcing the Bruins down a man. The Bombers wouldn't connect with the extra man and the Bruins generated more offence with a man down.
The Bruins opened the scoring with a goal from captain Eric Houk, who stretched out to push the puck under Bomber netminder Cal Schell. While going for the net, Bomber Reece Richmond hit Houk and the two made contact with Schell, causing the Bombers to dispute the goal for goaltender interference - despite an argument with the refs by Bomber assistant captain Matt Raymond, the goal would stand.
The Bomber D almost gave Estevan a second goal, with a turnover causing a two-on-none against Schell. The goalie came up big, making the save and keeping Flin Flon within a goal. The Bombers would get some offence going late, almost knocking the puck past Estevan's Boston Bilous in the last minute of the first, but the puck would go wide - the first 20 would end with the Bruins up 1-0.
Flin Flon would tie the game up early in the second period with an unorthodox play. Shipper went for a puck behind Bilous' net, but Bilous stood up in front of Shipper, blocking his path. The two players collided, knocking Bilous behind the net, right in time for the puck to be fired up the sideboards. With the puck falling onto Zak Smith's stick at the blue line and Bilous still stuck behind the net, Smith fired at the open cage and made no mistake. Like the Bombers in the first, Estevan argued for goalie interference - and like in the first, the goal stood.
Jacob Vockler almost got the Bombers ahead with a highlight reel play that just went wide, but the Bruins were the team that would sneak ahead late in the second. Estevan defender Dayton Deics got the puck and beat Rylan Thiessen on the outside, throwing a puck on net and beating Schell top shelf. Despite Flin Flon's early goal, Estevan would lead 2-1 heading into the third.
Flin Flon would get caught in a parade to the penalty box in the third, culminating in a Caelan Fitzpatrick goal to make it 3-1 Bruins. Fitzpatrick almost added a second, but Schell made the save despite more player-on-goalie contact, drawing the ire of the Flin Flon defence.
The game wasn't over yet, though. With Schell on the bench, Shipper snuck a puck through to Smith, who scored his second of the game with just under two minutes to go. Estevan would make the goal irrelevant though, with Cody Davis charging down the ice for the Bruins in the last minute to score an empty netter. Reece Richmond would get the Bombers going again late with a big hit, but the result was no longer in doubt.
Bilous stopped 25 pucks in the victory, while Schell made 27 saves.
The Bombers welcomed a pair of players back into the lineup after prolonged absences. Brett Wieschorster, who missed the last three games of the Bombers' series with Humboldt, returned to play, while Jeremi Tremblay, who had not played since mid-January, suited up for his first game in almost four months.
The Bruins and Flin Flon will play Game 2 at Affinity Place in Estevan Saturday night.
