The Bombers have emerged from the southern road swing unscathed - four teams up, four wins down - after beating Weyburn in a shootout 2-1.
Flin Flon kept their spot atop the SJHL standings despite tough competition and a goalie at the top of his game.
Going into their Saturday night showdown, Weyburn had a 4-2-0-2 record, sitting in a three-way tie for fourth in the league and suffering three of their losses to high-flying Humboldt and Melfort.
The Bombers opened the scoring in the early second period, with Carter Anderson doing the honours and getting his second goal in as many nights, tipping in a long Justin Lies wrister through traffic.
Weyburn would not be down long though, with Blake Betson capitalizing on a Cole Tanchuk missed pass in the slot midway through the frame to tie things back up.
The rest of the game was a seesaw battle, with shots and chances just about equal between the two teams. Both teams took too many men calls later in the second - both managed to kill them off. In the third, the Bombers withstood a Red Wing onslaught during a pair of penalty kills, then powered back with chances of their own.
Midway through the frame, Koen Senft had the Bombers' best chance of the game, streaking in on Red Wings goalie Dazza Mitchell on a two-on-one. Weyburn defender Braigh Legrandeur chased down Senft and managed to knock him unsteady, causing him to crash into Mitchell and take the net off. The puck crossed the line, but the goal was immediately waved off for goalie interference and Senft was sent to the box. All players emerged unhurt, the Bombers killed the penalty off and the band played on.
With less than four minutes of regulation left, things got tough when Weyburn's Jacob Visentini broke in on Kenny Marquart during a Bomber line change. In the chaotic rush to chase down Visentini, six Bombers, not five, hit the ice, leading to another too-many-men call. Weyburn had a brief powerplay, but an ill-timed slewfoot on Anthony Piccininno sent Carter Briltz to the box for the Wings, negating the advantage.
Sixty minutes would not prove to be sufficient. Overtime was coming.
The Bombers started the extra frame with the puck and owned possession early on, with Jacob Vockler having the first serious chance but being blocked by a Weyburn defender. The Wings came back the other way, with Ty Teasdale and Elijah Anderson taking their best chance and not hitting the net. Carter Anderson was sprung on a breakaway for Flin Flon, but couldn't corral the puck. Weyburn came back and lost a chance.
Justin Lies entered the zone for Flin Flon - he was crowded and lost the biscuit. After calming things down with a line change, Weyburn rushed it back down. Wing captain Max Monette came in and shot. Stop by Kenny Marquart. Rush the other way. Stopped by Mitchell, rebound recovered by Flin Flon, but no further chances - the Wings pokechecked the puck away.
Another Weyburn retreat slowed it back down, followed by an aborted rush. A second try with two minutes on the clock. Weyburn can't advance it. Vockler got a chance and was poked. Legrandeur found Teasdale, but a quick shot by him was saved. Soon after, a second shot on the rebound by Betson - blocker save, Marquart. Lies was sprung in on the rebound, looping in on Mitchell - the goalie kicked a leg out and made the stop.
The last minute of overtime saw Betson get a chance and get knocked away - Anderson tried the same for the Bombers with no result. Lies got the puck with 30 seconds left, took a shot - Betson jumped in front of it and blocked the chance. Weyburn rushed the other way and lost it, followed by the Bombers regaining the zone late. A frantic rush saw a shot blocked, then Ashton Paul, in a panic before the horn, shot it at the goal, but Mitchell saved it - the horn went off.
Five minutes. No whistles. Complimentary heart attacks for both teams' fans. A shootout would be needed to decide the winner.
Vockler opened the shootout for the Bombers, dangling out Mitchell to put Flin Flon up. Visentini went back the other way and did the same for the Wings, tying it.
Justin Lies and Elijah Anderson exchanged misses, while both Piccininno and Weyburn shootout specialist Jerome Maharaj were both stopped with pad saves.
In round four, the Bombers sent out Alexi Sylvestre and he made no mistake, popping the puck over Mitchell to put all the pressure on Betson. With the fate of his team on his stick, Betson was stopped by Marquart, giving the Bombers their most stressful win of the year so far, a perfect southern swing and an eight-game winning streak.
Marquart and Mitchell each made 27 saves in 65 minutes plus of work.
The win not only gives the Bombers a perfect 4-0 southern swing - they did it with an exclamation point, scoring 18 goals and giving up only two. It was the Bombers' first perfect southern road trip since Nov. 26-Nov. 30, 2019, when the Bombers beat Melville, Notre Dame, Estevan and Weyburn.
The SJHL was chaotic Saturday night, with both of the league's sole remaining undefeated teams taking their first L's. Humboldt was taken to overtime by the Nipawin Hawks, with Nipawin's Ronan Buckberger getting a rare powerplay goal in the extra frame to hand the Broncos a 4-3 loss. Meanwhile in Kindersley, the Klippers, one night removed from taking the Melfort Mustangs to overtime, beat them in regulation 5-4 on the strength of third-period goals from the Cox brothers, Danton and Logan.
The losses mean the Bombers are alone in first place in the SJHL standings, with 19 points and a 9-0-1-0 record. Melfort is second with 14 points and a 7-1-0-0 record, followed by Humboldt with a 6-0-1-0 record and 13 points.
The Bombers will have a few days off before a weekend home set against the Klippers Oct. 20-21.
