In a top-of-the-standings heavyweight tilt, score this one as a Flin Flon Bomber TKO. The maroon and white took a 5-3 victory on home ice in a fiery Friday night fight against the Battlefords.
The matchup between the league's top two teams was a back-and-forth, fast and physical affair, but the Bombers ultimately came out on top in the first game in the Whitney Forum between the two teams since the Stars won the title in the rink last April.
To start the game, forward Joey Lies was honoured as the Bombers' community ambassador for this year, receiving a donation made in his name by league sponsor RBC. More information about Joey's honour can be found here.
It didn't take Flin Flon very long to get ahead - less than a minute, in fact. A shot from the point by Noah Houle almost beat Battlefords netminder Matthew MacArthur - the netminder saved it but Carter Anderson was right there to bury the rebound. Forty-six seconds in, the Bombers led.
Flin Flon followed that up with a smattering of chances. The team crashed the net moments later, with MacArthur barely able to hang on - Bomber Riley Niven picked up a penalty on the play, but Flin Flon killed it off.
The Stars tied the game up with a two-on-one, where Jordan Grill came in with speed and received a cross-crease pass, firing in a shot Flin Flon's Harmon Laser-Hume had no chance to stop. The game was tied, but the Bombers would soon regain the lead.
Off a faceoff, Justin Lies came in and put a backhander on MacArthur that slid through the goalie and in. The lead was restored.
More chances kept coming for the Bombers later in the first - a two-on-one with Houle and Niven, which Battlefords' Ben Portner got back to break up, then Tyson Smith and Jerome Gilbert almost getting a two-on-one of their own. Lies dangled out the Stars defenders a couple of times, but couldn't get it past MacArthur.
The teams traded penalties late, with the Stars' Evan Waldie attempting to snow Laser-Hume after the whistle and crashing into him instead, then Anderson and the Stars' Josh Korman getting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for jawing too hard at each other. The Bombers still led 2-1 going into the second.
While Flin Flon came out hot for the first period, it was the Stars who started the second with speed. Several key chances were stopped by the defence and by Laser-Hume, before Flin Flon got into penalty trouble.
The Bombers had their toughest test of the game when Joey Lies took a hooking call, then the Bombers took a too-many-men penalty on the same play, giving the Stars two minutes of five-on-three hockey. Despite that, Justin Lies, Cole Tanchuk, Jacob Vockler and Laser-Hume killed the entire two minutes off without giving up their lead, bringing the Forum alive.
Not long after, the Stars got into penalty trouble of their own, with two players of their own getting the gate on the same player - Josh Medernach got two for slashing, while rookie Josh Karman took his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the night. This time, the Bombers made the Battlefords pay, with Anderson knocking home his second of the night and 35th of the year to give Flin Flon a two-goal lead.
The Stars wouldn't turtle though, as the visitors caught the Bombers at the end of a long shift and brought themselves back within one. Bradley Blake received a quick pass from Kian Bell after a sequence of constant Stars offence and hacked it past Laser-Hume.
Entering the third, the Bombers' 3-2 lead was intact. While the Bombers took another penalty early on, the best chance came for Flin Flon shorthanded - MacArthur misplayed the puck after a Flin Flon dump-in and Keefe Gruener had a prime chance to score, catching the puck and knocking it down, but the puck rolled on him and it fumbled its way wide.
Discipline was lacking for both sides throughout the game, with Karman, sitting in the box for a 10-minute misconduct taken late in the second, picked up a second misconduct for mouthing off to officials and was ejected. Karman's night ended early with 36 penalty minutes and no points, having taken the penalty on which Anderson scored the Bombers' third goal.
Two other calls for the Stars gave the Bombers powerplays, but the visitors killed off both penalties.
The visitors were able to battle back, tying the game up on a scrum in front. Hunter Burgeson got a stick on the puck while it was loose in the crease, knocking it past Laser-Hume and into the net. With seven minutes to go, the game was tied - and Battlefords smelled blood in the water.
The Stars very nearly took the lead moments later after another scrum in front, with Tanner Gold getting a loose puck outside the scrum and having a prime chance to get the lead, but both Laser-Hume and Tanchuk got in front of the shot, knocking it up into the netting and out of play - the goalie gave Tanchuk a thankful pat on the head for this trouble.
Flin Flon ended up behind the eight-ball later, with Gruener taking a roughing penalty with less than five minutes to go, but despite the Stars going a man up, it was the Bombers who took advantage. Alexi Sylvestre capitalized on a clearing attempt that took a friendly bounce up the middle, going in on a breakaway and beating MacArthur clean. The Bombers had the lead once again.
The penalty situation hit a fever pitch late, with Kylynn Olafson ejected from the game and a pair of penalties given to Riley Niven and the Stars' Jackson Allan. With the Bombers still down a man after Sylvestre's goal, the home team managed to kill the penalties off.
Battlefords pulled MacArthur for the extra attacker with moments to go, but came back in late when the puck came back into the defensive zone. His presence did not matter in the end, as the Bombers scored on the first shot MacArthur saw - a quick blast by Jacob Vockler with less than a minute to go that put the game out of reach.
Laser-Hume earned the win with a 38 save performance, while MacArthur took the L despite making 35 stops.
With the win, the Bombers become the first SJHL team to hit 40 wins and sit well atop the SJHL standings with 82 points. The Stars remain second with 68.
The two teams face each other again in a rubber march at the Whitney Saturday night.
