It is said that a team isn't in trouble in a playoff series until they lose at home. If that's the case, Flin Flon has Humboldt in deep trouble.
The Bombers handed them their second home L in as many nights, winning 5-2.
Momentum started in the Broncos’ favour, getting a powerplay within the first minute, but Flin Flon killed off the infraction and got back onto even footing. The Broncos’ defence would hold steady early though, keeping the Bombers at bay – though the maroon and white, despite a slow start, got on the board first.
A shot off a faceoff by Cole Duperreault was deflected and went up in the air, bouncing off the rear glass before careening back toward the net. Jacob Vockler, skating by the net, spotted the puck and and tried batting it out of the air. While whether it was swatted past Benjamin Motew or whether it went in off his back, it crossed the line, putting Flin Flon up by one halfway through the period.
The Broncos piled on the chances in the second half of the frame, with the Bombers’ defence and Harmon Laser-Hume stopping each chance in the period. Chalk one up for the ‘Flon and none for the Broncos after one.
The Bombers would increase the lead early in the second on the powerplay. Noah Houle rushed the puck in and fired it at the goal, toward Kylynn Olafson, streaking into the slot. Houle's pass met Olafson's stick, who poked it through Motew’s five-hole.
The Flin Flon powerplay would strike once again later in the frame – and it wouldn’t take long to do it. Duperreault bombed a slapshot from the point and snuck it past Motew just 12 seconds into the powerplay, celebrating by crashing into the glass in front of the Bomber fan section near the benches. Three-rip, Flin Flon.
Humboldt would ruin Laser-Hume’s shutout bid just before the halfway point of the second, as Tim Kim found a loose puck in a slot scramble and filled the net. The Bombers would build the momentum back, killing off a penalty against the Broncos’ tough powerplay and earning possession soon after. Alexi Sylvestre narrowly missed a chance in close, as did Liam Bridger, who batted the rebound of a Barron Stibbe shot toward the net but into Motew’s chest.
Humboldt would soon after take a penalty of their own when Tristan Serrao caught Stibbe’s head, earning him two minutes for a blow to the head and a 10 minute misconduct, but Duperreault would get called for a high stick not long after, making it 4-on-4 for a short time - neither team accomplished much.
Humboldt put pressure on Laser-Hume late, much like the first, but once again, the goalie and his compatriots held tall. Flin Flon entered the third up 3-1.
The pressure on Laser-Hume continued on to start the third, with the newly-announced SJHL goalie of the month for March being tested early and often. Flin Flon’s defenders gave the goalie plenty of help, blocking several key shots with sticks or bodies.
The Broncos got undisciplined in the later stages while behind, giving the Bombers a powerplay with nine minutes to go. Flin Flon wouldn’t convert, but almost as importantly, they were spared another two minutes of Humboldt attack. The Broncos got more chances following the penalty, but both teams took penalties after a pile of players crashed into Laser-Hume in the crease.
Both teams took chances with the extra ice and got shots off but Flin Flon rode it out unscathed. Motew hit the bench for the extra attacker with about three minutes to go, with the Broncos going on an all-out offensive late.
Duperreault got a chance to pot another goal on the empty net, but got mugged on his way to the net. That led to play going back the other way, with Kim snaking through the defence and putting a shot top corner on Laser-Hume, bringing Humboldt within one with 1:23 left.
Kim had both Bronco goals on the night, but accidentally gave the Bombers one moments later. Flin Flon chipped the puck out of the zone and Kim, the last man back for the Broncos, slowed down on his way to the puck. Unbeknownst to him, Ethan Mercer charged at full clip behind, picked Kim’s pocket and fired the puck straight in, clinching the win. Liam Bridger would fire a second empty-netter from way downtown to send the Bombers’ travelling crew back up north happy – and Flin Flon back to the Whitney Forum up 2-0 on the Broncos.
The series will now shift to Flin Flon, with Games 3 and 4 going at the Forum April 4 and 5. If needed, the series will come back to Humboldt for Game 5 April 7, after a day for travel and for the Broncos to observe the fifth anniversary of the team's infamous bus accident.
Laser-Hume was credited with stopping 24 shots on the night, with shotblockers coming in not far from that mark in save count. Motew stopped 25 shots.
The Bombers aren't the only SJHL team to go up 2-0 after two games. The Battlefords North Stars have too, having topped Melfort 5-2 and 7-1 in Games 1 and 2 at home.
Flin Flon has continued on a remarkable streak with the win – the Broncos have not won a playoff game against the Bombers at home in over a decade. During the 2022 playoffs, the Bombers beat Humboldt in their own rink in Games 1, 2 and 5, with the final win clinching the series. Before that, the Bombers and Broncos played against each other in 2020, when the Bombers swept the Broncos before the emergence of COVID-19 caused the playoffs’ cancellation.
The last time the Broncos won at home against the Bombers in playoffs was back on March 29, 2013 – a 2-1 double OT winner in Game 5 that knocked the Bombers out of the playoffs and pushed the Broncos into the finals, which they’d later lose to Yorkton.
