The Bombers didn't bring the brooms out Wednesday night. A third period surge by Humboldt handed Flin Flon a 4-1 loss and forced a Game 5.
Passes didn't connect and shots didn't land the way the Bombers would have wanted in a game where the team could have eliminated the Broncos and moved on to the SJHL final.
Flin Flon did open the scoring in the first period, with an odd-man rush with Ethan Mercer, Zach Cain and Brent Gulenchyn catching the Broncos off-guard. Mercer would find Gulenchyn open, who would put a shot top corner on Bronco goalie Benjamin Motew. Barely two minutes in, the Bombers had the lead.
Humboldt would not be denied though, tying things up later in the frame. Quinn Myles would sneak a long-range wrist shot through traffic and past Harmon Laser-Hume, making it 1-1.
The Bombers flopped on a powerplay attempt, getting no shots with the extra man. Alex Von Sprecken almost sunk one past Motew from the corner, bouncing off players in front, but the Illinois native made the stop. This game would be tied after 20.
The Broncos opened the second period hot, eventually getting a 4-on-3 and a 5-on-3 after early penalties. The Bomber penalty kill came to play, with Von Sprecken, Reece Richmond, Ethan Mercer and others digging deep, blocking shots and clearing the zone, getting Flin Flon out of the deficits unscathed.
Flin Flon would get more powerplay chances, but in a departure from the team's usual success with the man up, actually gave up more shots than they recorded. Through the end of the second period, the Bombers had four powerplays and only had one shot to show for them. On the penalty kill, the Bombers held firm, with Lucas Fry keeping the Broncos at bay during one long penalty kill shift, despite losing his stick halfway through.
Entering the third, the 1-1 tie remained for about three minutes, when the Broncos opened the game up. Spencer Bell was left open at the side of the net during a Bronco powerplay, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead - the first lead the Broncos have held during the series.
The Bombers got another powerplay chance with the game on the line later in the frame, but their woes continued, this time at least getting shots but with Motew proving up to the task.
The Broncos would fight back late, with captain Ethan Zielke scoring his first goal of the series late, popping a quick wrister past Laser-Hume off a faceoff. Flin Flon got one last chance with Laser-Hume on the bench, even getting a powerplay, but that ended with a shorthanded empty-netter for Humboldt as Ben Kotylak sent a 180-foot clearing attempt out of the Broncos' zone, down the ice and into the empty cage. Kotylak would get himself a misconduct for celebrating in front of the Bomber bench, miming a fadeaway three-pointer, but the game was all but over.
Laser-Hume stopped 26 shots on the night, while Motew made 39 saves on 40 shots.
The Bombers will have at least one more shot to eliminate Humboldt, the next time doing so on the Broncos' home ice. Game 5 will be played at the Elgar Petersen Arena April 7.
While the Bombers' series is not over, the other SJHL semfinal is - the Battlefords North Stars finished off a sweep of the Melfort Mustangs Wednesday night, beating them 5-2 in Game 4 to send the horsies to pasture. The Stars lost Game 1 of their opening round series against Weyburn, but have since then rimed off eight straight wins, scoring five goals or more six times.
