The Bombers took the league-leading Estevan Bruins 12 rounds on the road once again Friday night, but ended up getting knocked down late and taking a hard loss.
Flin Flon lost 3-2 in an action-packed road game with hits, fights, scores and costly errors.
Estevan got the offence going early in the first, getting a goal from Dayton Deics - capitalizing on a blown defensive coverage - and a second one from Olivier Pouliot. In between, a stick scrap took place between Matt Raymond and Estevan's Mark Rumsey, with Rumsey leaving with a 10-minute misconduct.
The rough stuff began in earnest in the second period, with Estevan's Kian Calder drawing a crowd after a headshot on Xavier Lapointe behind the play. Lapointe would stay in the game, but Calder would get an early trip to the showers, given a game misconduct for the head hit.
The early third period saw another Estevan ejection - Zachery Burns nailed Reece Richmond in the numbers behind the Bomber net, giving him a two-and-a-game for checking from behind. Not long after, the two teams' captains dropped the gloves - Flin Flon's Zak Smith and Estevan's Eric Houk. Houk would get the final takedown, both players would get ejected and the band played on.
The Bombers got some key powerplay chances - first for four minutes after Kade Runke caught Jaeden Mercier with a knee-on-knee hit, then later on a Caelan Fitzpatrick slash.
The Bombers would generate some offence on the powerplay, but would ultimately lose the game with the extra man. Jaeden Mercier thought he got a puck past Bilous late, raising his arms, but no goal signal was made by the officials.
Moments later, Estevan cleared a puck out of the zone after a Bomber shot, putting the puck into the Bombers' end of the ice. Cal Schell went out to the faceoff circle to play the puck, but accidentally passed it onto the stick of Estevan's Pouliot, who scored from the blueline on an open net for a shorthanded go-ahead goal.
That goal would break the Bombers' back. A series of late chances fell apart - Reece Richmond had a chance with the powerplay still in effect, but his stick snapped. Xavier Lapointe got a late chance off the rush, but Bilous made a glove save.
Ultimately, the final horn would sound, giving the Bombers the L and handing Estevan the season series against the Bombers.
Four Estevan players were assessed misconducts for actions during the game - three Bruins were ejected outright. Estevan racked up more than an hour of penalty minutes, but despite getting seven chances, the Bombers could not convert once on the powerplay. Estevan couldn't produce with a man up either, also going oh-for-seven.
Schell made 29 saves on the night, while Bilous got 32 saves and the victory.
The game will be the last time - barring possible playoff appearances - the Bruins and Bombers play each other this season. The season series ends with the Bruins winning three games and the Bombers winning once, but with the margins close - three of the games were one-goal games, with the sole exception, the first match between the two teams, a 3-1 Bruins win.
The Bombers stay atop the Sherwood division and in third place in the league with 59 points, ahead of Melfort's 56 points.
Flin Flon will finish a gruelling four-games-in-five-nights road trip Saturday with a game in Weyburn against Drew Kuzma's former team. After the road trip, the Bombers will have six days away before a weekend set in Battlefords next weekend.
