Welcome to the Jacob Vockler show, Saskatchewan. One night after netting a hat-trick, the forward scored four more goals for Flin Flon in a 9-6 Saturday night win over La Ronge.
Defence be damned - this one was all scoring, all the time, starting less than 30 seconds in. William Forsberg got the scoring train going 29 seconds in, beating Bomber netminder Harmon Laser-Hume for an early Ice Wolves lead. Midway through the period, Jacob Cossette extended that lead to two for La Ronge. Anthony Piccininno got the Bombers on the board to cut the deficit to one, but Nolan Baldwin got a third puck past Laser-Hume moments later to make it 3-1 - how it would be going into period two.
Like their duel Friday night in Flin Flon, the Bombers offence erupted in the second, scoring four goals and stealing back - then extending - the lead. Vockler got on the scoresheet 11 seconds into the second period with a shot from the side that handcuffed Wolves goalie Karl Soneff. Seth Dragan brought the Ice Wolves' lead back up to two goals with a quick wrister in the slot that beat Laser-Hume, but the momentum swung back to the Bombers after that.
Piccininno, whose first period goal was his first as a Bomber, decided one wasn't quite enough, beating Soneff with a wrister that squeaked into the net, bringing Flin Flon within one.
The Ice Wolves lead would stick around for much of the second, but the floodgates opened late. With Baldwin getting a five-minute major for a headshot on Flin Flon's Trevor Stenglein, the Bomber powerplay, which had seen issues early on, would get plenty of time to work.
Vockler opened the spigot first, slamming home a snapshot that beat Soneff clean to tie the game. A couple of minutes later, Liam Bridger got in on the act, scoring his first of the year on a fluttering shot to make it a 5-4 Bomber lead going into the third.
La Ronge tied things up again in the early third courtesy of a Raine Hodge tip in the slot, but the Bombers were far from done. Vockler completed the hat-trick midway through the third, retaking the lead by picking off a bad pass from goalie Topher Chirico and filling the open net. Less than a minute later, Justin Lies got on the board with a wicked wrister in close, making it 7-5.
A late penalty by the Bombers gave the Ice Wolves a chance to get back in the game, and they would cut the lead to one with a goal by Adam Belzil, but the Bombers would hang on. Vockler would add an insurance marker, his fourth goal of the night and seventh of the weekend, to make it 8-6, then Brock Mueller would add an empty netter for a final score of 9-6.
Harmon Laser-Hume was credited with 19 saves on the night for the win, while the La Ronge goalies were shelled for the second straight night. Soneff, who played the first two periods, stopped 40 shots, while Chirico made 11 third-period saves and got stuck with the L.
Vockler's four-goal performance gives him a nine-point weekend, coming on the heels of a three-goal, two-assist performance against the Ice Wolves Friday. Lies finished the game with four points, while Piccininno had three points on the night.
The Bombers leave the second weekend of the regular season with seven of eight possible points and a 3-0-1-0 record, tied for second in the SJHL - only the 4-0 Melfort Mustangs, who handed Flin Flon an overtime loss last weekend, have a better record so far.
Flin Flon will host a pair of games next weekend, playing Notre Dame Oct. 6-7 at the Whitney Forum. Following that, the Bombers will go on their first southern road swing of the season, playing four games in five nights.
