The Bombers have clinched at least a tie for second spot in the SJHL, wiping out a ravaged Stars roster 5-1 Friday.
With a bout of illness having ripped through the team and two of their top players out of the lineup, the Stars couldn't hold back the Bomber attack. Flin Flon took advantage and hung up a season-high shot total, putting their visitors through the ringer.
With both Nikita Ivashchenko and Rylan Williams out of the lineup for the weekend and forward Jackson Allan out long-term, the Stars could barely get established on offence, while the team's defence wouldn't push the Bombers away. Flin Flon owned the pace - and the puck - almost all night.
Flin Flon opened the scoring about six minutes in on a powerplay. Stars goalie Justen Maric was able to make big saves, but one of those led to him getting out of position and giving Luke Lepper a wide-open net, which the Bomber D-man did not miss.
Later in the first, with the Bomber offence continuing the onslaught, Leo Seitz got on the board - Joey Lies forced a turnover behind the Stars' net, fed Seitz out front and scored. The Stars' defence would continue to let Maric down, giving up 27 shots in the first period alone - by contrast, Flin Flon's Matt Kieper had to make only five stops in the first.
With less than a minute to go in the frame, Keefe Gruener opened up the lead to three for the Bombers, getting wide open for a one-time blast that no goalie in the SJHL would have a hope of saving. The Bombers led 3-0 after 20 minutes, after getting well over a shot per minute on average and getting almost no fight back.
The Stars' misfortunes wouldn't stop in the first. Ryder Ringor would pick up a long pass, break in past Battlefords D Gavin Granger and fire the puck clean past Maric to make it 4-0. The second period would bring plenty more chances for the Bombers - a breakaway for Ringor, a bouncing chance for Carter Cormier, a drilled post from the point by Pierce Yakimchuk and more chnces in close for Cormier and Ryder Mucha - but Maric stood tall in the Stars' crease. The goalie showed signs of exhaustion near the end of the second, at some times needing time to get back to his feet, but the Stars still provided little help, even though Maric kept the goals to four through the second.
Reid Arberry also got a great chance in close late in the period, but couldn't get a stick on the puck before Granger tossed him to the ice. Undeterred, Arberry would gain the puck back moments later by drilling Granger in open ice and stealing the puck right back. Flin Flon led 4-0 after 40 minutes and a whopping 46 shots - Maric got the sympathy pull and was replaced by Connor Baumbach for the third.
The Stars' offence fought back in the third, breaking Kieper's shutout bid on a powerplay when Seth Dragan came into the zone unchecked, got a pass from a corner and beat the goalie point-blank. Battlefords almost got a second goal, actually getting the puck in the net, but refs immediately waved the goal off - Seth Dragan was tangled up with Kieper in the Bomber crease, preventing him from stopping an Elijah Anderson point shot. The verdict - no goal, goalie interference.
That was as close as the Stars would get. After a delay of game penalty, the Bombers restored their four-goal lead late, with Gruener blowing another one-timer clean past Baumbach. With some late hijinks - mostly roughting and unsportsmanlike conduct calls - everyone got to the end of the night. The final horn sounded, but the game had long since been over. Flin Flon pumped either 69 or 71 shots on the Stars' net - the in-rink count at the Forum and the official SJHL website did not match, but the end result was the same.
Kieper got the win having to make just 17 stops, but Maric and Bohmbach were both shelled - Maric made 42 saves, while Bohmbach stopped 24 of 25 Bomber shots in the third.
With four games to go, the Bombers are now eight points clear of Weyburn in the SJHL standings, the only team that can catch them up for second. At worst, if the Bombers lose each of their final four games and Weyburn won all four of their final ones, the two teams will end up tied in points.
The Wings can still beat Flin Flon on tiebreakers. The southerners have just four more games and can, if they win out and Flin Flon loses their last four games, catch up the Bombers in the standings and tie them in regulation and overtime wins, but can't beat them in either. The next tiebreaker up, head-to-head points, would go to the Wings, who beat the Bombers three times in four meetings this season.
The Bombers can make it elementary with a win over the Stars in the rematch Saturday night at the Forum.
