The Bombers wrapped up a flawless weekend set against the Battlefords with a 6-3 Saturday night win.
The first goal came barely a minute in, courtesy of a rebound pounced on by Jacob Vockler. Battlefords would tie things back up, scoring their first goal of the weekend, when a shot by Steven Kesslering was tipped on its way to the goal and beat the Bombers' Ben Montgomery.
The Stars would gain the lead in the second period, putting one in during the dying stages of a four-minute powerplay. Holden Doell shovelled the puck through a crowded slot and past Montgomery.
Vockler would get the Bombers back even, getting the last touch on the puck through a rugby scrum by the Stars net on a powerplay. Cole Duperreault pulled the Bombers ahead midway through the second, pouncing on an open puck and sliding it past Battlefords goalie Michael Harroch. Drew Kuzma did something similar late in the second, outwaiting Harroch on another powerplay late in the second. The Bombers headed into the third with a 4-2 lead, but not before some extracurriculars - Battlefords forward Matthew Henry drew a crowd, along with Bomber Matt Raymond, culminating in Henry throwing his gloves at Raymond on the way off the ice. Henry was given a 10-and-a-game for this part of the festivities.
Dylan Esau got the Stars within a goal (and got a bit of a facial in doing so), getting credit after the puck bounced off his face and in. Similar puck luck would come to the Bombers soon after, with Vockler completing his hat-trick from getting the last touch before a Star player accidentally banked the puck from behind the goal into his own net.
With the game out of the Stars' reach late, things got physical - Battlefords Zane Florence and Bomber Lucas Fry dropped the mitts, with Florence scoring the takedown. Refs cautioned both benches to keep the jawing to a minimum at several points in the third. Zak Smith scored a late powerplay coup de grace to seal the Stars' fate.
Montgomery got the W with a 16 save performance. Harroch was pelted, making 43 saves on the evening. Vockler and Kuzma each ended the night with three points.
The Bombers remain atop the Sherwood division standings and third in the league with 65 points, with a three game winning streak helping boost the team's totals. The Bombers are now seven points clear of their closest competition, the Melfort Mustangs. Both teams higher up the standings than the Bombers, the Estevan Bruins and Humboldt Broncos, have now clinched playoff berths - the teams have 76 and 74 points respectively, now statistically out of reach for any SJHL team not already in playoff position.
Like on Friday night, penalties and discipline were a story of the evening for the Stars. While the Bombers got 29 minutes in total penalties, the Stars ended up with 14 - and gave up three goals on five Bomber powerplays. The Stars, who were ahead of the Bombers in the standings after the holiday break, have lost their last four games and now sit fifth, six points up on surging La Ronge, who have won each of their last nine games.
The Bombers will be back in action at the Forum Tuesday night against Nipawin before embarking on a three-games-in-three-nights southern road swing, hitting up Melville (Feb. 18), Yorkton (Feb. 19) and the Stars once more (Feb. 20).
