The Bombers' success on the southern swing continued Friday, with the club getting their ninth straight win, beating Weyburn 4-2.
Flin Flon almost held a monopoly on the chances early on, but it would be Weyburn drawing first blood. Braigh LeGrandeur and Brendan Hunchak broke into the Bomber zone on an odd-man rush six minutes in and LeGrandeur beat Kenny Marquart five-hole, giving the Wings a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game.
With the Bombers down a pair of 20-year-old defenders - Adam McNutt due to a lingering injury and Anthony Bax due to a three-game suspension, picked up after a high hit against Notre Dame Wednesday - the defence scrambled following the goal, going long stretches unable to clear the zone. The Bombers pushed ahead with chances late in the period, but the Wings stayed ahead 1-0 going into the second.
A late scrum between Noah Houle and the Wings' Carter Briltz drew a crowd after the horn went for intermission - by the time the dust had settled, Weyburn would start the second with a powerplay. It wouldn't go the Wings' way.
Kylynn Olafson blew through four Wings defenders to pick up a loose puck, fed to him by Anthony Piccininno, then fired a shot glove-side on Wings goalie Ryan Hicks to tie the game up shorthanded. Six minutes later, Flin Flon took the lead, courtesy of a three-on-two that saw Jerome Gilbert, Alexi Sylvestre and Jacob Vockler break in on Hicks. Gilbert got a feed from Vockler and knocked it home - 2-1 Bombers.
Hunchak and Briltz had chances to tie the game with five minutes to go in the frame, but Marquart was up to the task, making three saves in quick succession to hold the lead. Flin Flon kept the 2-1 lead going into the third period.
Weyburn clawed back early in the third. With Bomber captain Justin Lies in the box, the Wings banged away in close and Max Monette got a final touch on the puck, knocking it in past Marquart.
The Bombers got into some penalty trouble in the third, but were able to pull out of it late. Up a man, Houle fed Lies for a one-timer that went clean top shelf on Hicks, giving the Bombers the lead back.
In the final moments of regulation time, the Bombers had quality chances - a shot by Houle got through a crowd but trickled just wide, a Vockler chance was saved before he and Hicks collided outside the Wings' crease. Finally, the Bombers put it to bed with less than two minutes to go, with Riley Niven getting his third of the season by Hicks to make it a 4-2 late lead.
Marquart picked up a 29-save win, while Hicks, making his first junior A start after spending this season with the junior B Regina Silver Foxes, stopped 31 shots.
The Bombers picked up the win despite not having Carter Anderson, one of the league's most prolific goalscorers, for the second straight game, along with having Keefe Gruener and Matt Egan - who has five points in his last two games - in the press box.
The win is the Bombers' ninth straight, their 19th in their last 20 games and their 38th of the season. The Bombers, sporting a 38-2-2-0 record, have 78 points, 10 points ahead of second-place Battlefords, who have played three more games than Flin Flon.
The Bombers will end their southern road swing Saturday with a matchup against the Estevan Bruins, then the team will head home and prepare for the next week of games - another road game Feb. 14 against Melfort and a pair of home games against the North Stars Feb. 16-17.
