Flin Flon and La Ronge don't usually play boring hockey games. Friday night's was as exciting as it gets, especially for Bomber fans.
The Bombers bossed their rivals around in the second period and took a big 9-5 win in their first match-up of the season.
Sporting special orange Every Child Matters charity jerseys to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Bombers were able to make things happen on their own terms Friday night.
The Bombers also had a temporary change on the bench - with head coach and general manager Mike Reagan out of town on team business, assistant coach Cole McCaig assumed the top spot for the Bombers. Along with McCaig came a temporary assistant coach, former Bomber Brandt Weldon, a former teammate of McCaig who lives in The Pas.
Flin Flon got plenty of early chances, but some of the most lethal ones went to La Ronge, who had four breakaways early in the first. Goalie Kenny Marquart stopped all four, while the Bombers would scrape and claw early.
The Bombers got a powerplay midway through the period and weren't able to score while up a man, but after establishing possession in the offensive zone, Alexi Sylvestre opened the scoring. Sylvestre had a highlight reel marker, dangling out a pair of defenders and beating La Ronge's Topher Chirico.
Another dangerous moment came for the Ice Wolves, with Mason Bueckert getting a breakaway and almost beating Marquart, but Aiden Chow came back to lay a bodycheck and ruin La Ronge's chance.
Flin Flon capitalized twice later in the period, with Jacob Vockler getting his first goal on the season working off a give-and-go and roofing it on Chirico. Not long after that, Fabrice Bourgeois, playing his first game as a Bomber, got his first goal, firing a hot shot from the sideboards that beat Chirico.
La Ronge had another chance waved off when Marquart stopped a loose puck in the slot - the Ice Wolves thought they had a goal, but the goalie kept it out. He couldn't keep out a shot by Bueckert with barely a second left on the clock though, making it 3-1 Flin Flon 20 minutes in.
La Ronge was able to claw back some ground early in the second, first getting within one on a point shot by Jamieson Franz that hit a defender and went past Marquart, then a second goal for Bueckert less than a minute later to tie it up. Adding to that was a massive hit on Liam Bridger that drew a crowd, ending with a big discussion and mutual penalties.
The Ice Wolves only were able to tie it up for 15 seconds. Vockler, himself having a big night, dangled past La Ronge defenders and slid a second of the game past Chirico to regain the lead. Flin Flon would not fall behind again.
The floodgates were opened. Bailey Ewonus got his first goal as a Bomber when a puck squirted loose to him in the slot and he fired it past Chirico, then Trevor Stenglein got his fourth with a long shot that bounced off a defender's stick and past Chirico. Less than halfway through the game, the Bombers had a 6-3 lead and chased Chirico from the net in favour of backup Karl Soneff.
The goalie change didn't stop the bleeding. Only moments later, Vockler broke the Bombers' powerplay futility streak, getting their first powerplay marker of the year on their 16th try and finishing off his hat-trick.
The Ice Wolves didn't give up, with Bueckert getting a hat-trick of his own with a beautiful tip on a point shot, taking a shot going straight into Marquart's glove and putting it through his five-hole. La Ronge almost cut the lead to two when Jacob Cossette got the puck past Marquart - the trouble is he threw the puck in the net, which the refs caught and immediately waved off.
One more goal would come before the second intermission, this time for the Bombers. A Cole Tanchuk point shot hit bodies in front and slid in through Soneff, sending the Bombers into the third up 8-4.
La Ronge opened the third period hot, winning the draw forward and getting the puck to Bueckert, who scored his fourth goal of the game just five seconds into the third. The Bombers got their offence going, not to score but to maintain possession. Flin Flon dropped down at one point to five-on-three, but killed off one penalty, then extended their lead shorthanded. Anthony Piccininno rushed the puck into the zone down a man and put a shot on Soneff. While he was stopped, Justin Lies came in behind to pound in the rebound, making it 9-5 Flin Flon with the hometown boy's first goal as a Bomber.
Lies got to a different kind of battle soon after, dropping the mitts with Lukas Tokic and getting a decisive win, heading to the dressing room with a goal and a fight win.
While emotions ran high late, no more fights or action took place late. The Bombers played out the string and picked up two emphatic points over their arch-rivals.
Marquart stopped 30 shots in his first win of the year - Chirico would be stuck with the loss despite making 17 saves and Soneff stopped 30 shots.
Both Sylvestre and Vockler, who were held off the scoresheet in the Bombers' first two games this year, ended the game with four points - three goals and an assist for Vockler, a goal and three assists for Sylvestre.
The two teams will face off again in La Ronge Sept. 30.
