Flin Flon held on to win Game 1 in their semifinal series, staving off late pressure from Humboldt to take a 4-3 win.
A big second period helped propel the Bombers past their higher-ranked foes, giving them a 1-0 series lead.
The Bombers opened up the game with speed and kept the Broncos at bay – Humboldt didn’t get a shot on Harmon Laser-Hume for the first five minutes of the game. That pressure paid off halfway through the first period, with Alexi Sylvestre taking advantage of a Humboldt turnover in their own zone and picking a corner over Benjamin Motew’s shoulder.
That lead would only last for a few minutes of game time, as the Broncos would tie things up with a one-timer – Lucas Ceccarelli fed Cage Newans, who made no mistake, blowing the puck past Laser-Hume.
Flin Flon would end the period on top though, thanks to another weird bounce. Alex Von Sprecken took a buzzer beater point shot that bounced off the back board behind the net, toward the net and off Motew, giving Flin Flon a lead with less than a second left in the period. The officials conferred and confirmed the puck went in before the buzzer, giving Flin Flon a 2-1 lead after 20.
Humboldt suffered a big loss in the first period, with Daylan Weigel, a nominee for the SJHL’s top defenceman award, getting banged up. Weigel would miss the rest of the game, putting the Broncos’ D down a man.
The Bombers would get more chances with an extra man and take full advantage – Ethan Mercer banked home another shot by Von Sprecken to put Flin Flon ahead by two, then Jacob Vockler teed up a one-timer labelled for the top shelf, making it 4-1.
Flin Flon had a pair of great chances to extend the lead further – Von Sprecken had a breakaway chance and Mercer had another opportunity in close, but Motew made two potentially game-saving saves. Zach Cain almost got on the board later too, getting a feed from behind the net, but his shot hit a discarded stick in the crease and stayed out. The chances weren’t limited to the Bombers either; Matthew Van Blaricom found open ice with about eight minutes left and fired on Laser-Hume point blank, but the goalie came up big. Flin Flon would go into the third up 4-1. On-ice officials would start giving players misconducts in an attempt to stave off third period misbehaviour – Bomber Noah Houle would get one late, as would Humboldt’s Jacob Boucher and Samuel Marburg.
Jeremi Tremblay almost made it 5-1 with a quick shot to start the third, one that would hit the post and go out of harm’s way for Humboldt. The Broncos would close the gap to two goals four minutes into the period, this time with a fortuitous bounce of their own – Humboldt’s Maddox Amaral took a shot that would hop, skip and bounce its way to the net, then off Laser-Hume’s blocker, up, over and into the net.
Humboldt would push more and more as the third wore on, gaining both offensive and physical ground on the Bombers. Zach Cain caught Xavier Roy with a high stick with five minutes to go, putting the Bombers into a tough situation late – one on which Humboldt would capitalize. During a scrum in front, the puck squirted loose and Newans popped the puck past Laser-Hume, bringing the Broncos within one.
With moments left and a lead to protect, Flin Flon went on the offence – Tremblay almost found the twine in close, stopped by Motew, with the goalie heading to the bench with 90 seconds to go. Laser-Hume made three big saves on point-blank chances with 40 seconds left on the clock and despite late pressure from Humboldt, the Bombers would hang on.
Laser-Hume made 40 saves on 43 Humboldt shots, while Motew would be stuck with his first L as the Broncos’ undisputed starter, making 31 saves.
Game 2 of the series will be played Saturday night at the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt.
