Ten. Straight. Wins.
The Bombers extended their recent good run by keeping a surging Kindersley club at bay Saturday, winning 4-3.
Flin Flon was able to stave off the Klippers despite having several big names out of the lineup. League leading scorer Jacob Vockler sat out, as did fellow star forward Ashton Paul. The Bombers called up goaltender Ryan Bain from AAA Moose Jaw to back up Harmon Laser-Hume after Kenny Marquart's goalie fight Friday night - while the scrap brought the crowd to its feet, Marquart may be looking at a multi-game suspension.
Nonetheless, opened the scoring courtesy of two first period goals by Kylynn Olafson. First came a quick snapshot about six minutes in that fooled Klippers netminder Cody Jaman, then came a second goal five minutes later where a deflected shot fell perfectly on Olafson's tape, leading to a layup on Jaman. The Bombers led 2-0 after 20.
Kindersley would not fly gently into that goodnight, however. Tylin Hilbig brought the Klippers back within one early in the second, followed barely 10 seconds later by a second goal by Keenan Ingram to tie the game. The tie would not last long, as just six seconds of game time after that, Koen Senft would jump a pass between the Klippers' defence off the faceoff, feed Alexi Sylvestre and he made no mistake, putting the Bombers back up a goal.
Entering the third up one goal and with everything to play for, the Bombers relinquished the lead. Rookie Cam Perlinger teamed up with his twin brother Cobe on a give-and-go barely a minute into the third to tie things up 3-3. The Bombers were back on the ropes, but even though the team bent, they did not break.
A powerplay not long after the tying goal gave the Bombers new life and when a Noah Houle point shot was stopped, the rebound kicked out to Sylvestre, who knocked in his second go-ahead goal of the night, putting the Bombers up 4-3 - where, despite a late charge by Kindersley, the final score would stay.
Laser-Hume made 29 saves on the night for the win, while Kindersley's Jaman stopped a whopping 47 pucks on the night.
The win puts the Bombers even further apart on top of the SJHL standings, putting them first with 23 of a possible 24 points through 12 games. Humboldt - who, through 10 games, have not lost in regulation but have lost twice in overtime - and Melfort - who have lost two of their last three games in regulation - are tied for second with 18 points apiece.
The team's recent streak has made Bomber history. It has been at least 15 years since the Bombers have had a winning streak enter double digits - their longest streak in recent years was nine, going from Jan. 5-Jan. 26, 2019. As of Oct. 23, the team will have officially made it a full calendar month without losing a game in any condition, dropping their home opener in overtime to Melfort Sept. 23. The last regulation loss the Bombers suffered was the league-championship deciding game April 22 against Battlefords - one day shy of six months before Saturday's game.
The Bombers will have three games next week - first a road date in Nipawin Oct. 24 against the Hawks, then a homestand against Melville Oct. 27-28.
