Flin Flon ended their regular season with a late-game slide against Humboldt, losing 4-1 in their last game before playoffs.
The Bombers took charge early, opening the scoring in the first period with a powerplay goal. Humboldt clawed back in the second with a goal by Connor Miller, which took a weird hop off a Bomber defender and bounced by Flin Flon netminder Kenny Marquart. Flin Flon ended the second period tied and on a four-on-three, but could not convert - several chances ended up missing the net, which became a running theme for the Bombers' offence Saturday.
That came back to bite Flin Flon. Just like in Friday's matchup between the two teams, both teams were tied after 40 - and just like Friday, the Broncos bucked Flin Flon in the third. Humboldt dumped a couple of goals on the Bombers early in the third, with Maddox Amaral scoring just the second shorthanded goal the Bombers have given up all year, then Matthew Van Blaricom finding the twine a minute later.
Flin Flon would forge a late offensive, making a push on Humboldt goalie Benjamin Motew that included pulling Marquart for a six-on-four powerplay, but that tactic wouldn't work and Humboldt would put the capper on the night, with Chase Cooke hitting the empty net to make it 4-1 Humboldt.
Motew stopped 35 of 36 Bomber shots to pick up the win, while Marquart was stuck with the L after making 33 stops.
The win made no impact for the Bombers in the SJHL standings, as the team long since clinched the league's top spot with 91 points - Flin Flon will end the season with a 44-9-2-1 record. However, the win meant Humboldt would clinch third place in the league standings, getting 78 points and just barely pipping the Battlefords North Stars, who finished their season with 77.
Bomber fans were not just watching the stat line in Humboldt Saturday - they were also keeping an eye on Kindersley and Weyburn, where two more games took place that would decide who Flin Flon will play in the first round. Weyburn played Estevan and Kindersley faced the Stars. If Estevan won or Kindersley lost, then the Bombers would play Kindersley - if Estevan lost and Kindersley won, the Bombers would play the Bruins.
It turns out that Estevan, in a rare moment, did the Bombers a small favour, beating Weyburn to move up into seventh in the league standings, keeping Kindersley in eighth. The Bombers will play the Klippers in their first round series, which will start next weekend - the first time the two clubs have ever faced off against each other in an SJHL playoff series.
The four first-round series will see the Bombers and Klippers face off, along with Melfort playing the Bruins. Humboldt will play the Weyburn Red Wings, while Battlefords will play the surging Melville Millionaires.
Flin Flon and Kindersley faced each other four times this season, with the Bombers winning three of the four games - a 8-2 win Oct. 20 and a 4-3 victory Oct. 21, both in the Whitney Forum, followed by a 3-2 loss Feb. 23 and a 4-2 win Feb. 24, both on the road.
With the loss, the Bombers went 4-5-0-1 in their final 10 games and lost seven of their nine regulation losses in their final 14 games.
