The Bombers earned one point, not two in the latest installment of the Hanson Lake road rivalry, losing 4-3 in OT to La Ronge.
In a game which, like many others recently, meant nothing for Flin Flon in the standings, La Ronge struck first, with a Stewart Pond tip through traffic giving the Ice Wolves an early lead.
In the second, a quick wrister by rookie Holden Knights got the Ice Wolves a two-goal lead, but Alec Malo cut that in half with a sneaky play in the slot later in the period.
Early in the third period, La Ronge's James Philpott found the twine after a defensive miscue gave him a wide-open slot shot on goalie Jacob Delorme. Halfway through the third, La Ronge led 3-1.
The Bombers came back, cutting the lead to just one thanks to Reid Robertson banging one in near the midway point of the third. Then with less than a minute to go, with Delorme on the Flin Flon bench, Cole Rafuse lofted a muffin up and over La Ronge goalie Xavier Cannon's shoulder, tying the game up with seconds to spare.
While Flin Flon got a point, they didn't finish with two. On La Ronge's first rush of overtime, Jake Gudjonson beat Donavan Houle-Villeneuve on the outside, then set up Daylon Mannon with a shot in the high slot. Mannon made no mistake, winning the game for the Ice Wolves, then skating as fast as possible to the dressing room, along with his teammates.
Cannon made 39 saves in the win for La Ronge, while Delorme, still recovering from a flu bug, made 31 stops for the Bombers.
The game made literally no impact in the standings for Flin Flon, but could make a world of difference for La Ronge. The win in the Ice Wolves' last game of the season gives them 72 points on the year, enough to cement fourth in the league standings and home ice advantage against Melfort in the first round. Melfort sits fifth with 71 points, but still has one more game left to play - a Monday night make-up matchup against the Bombers.
Meanwhile, whoever will face the Bombers in the first round (earning the league's seventh-place spot) is still up in the air. Currently, Nipawin sits seventh, having played their last game Saturday losing to Melfort. Nipawin currently has 64 points, but eighth-place Humboldt sits only one point back with one more game left to play. Humboldt will play last-place Melville Tuesday. A win (or an overtime loss if they hold the tiebreaker) will give them the seventh spot and a date against the Bombers. A Humboldt loss will mean the Broncos play Battlefords and Nipawin faces the Bombers.
