The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Flin Flon Bombers shocked the Battlefords North Stars on the weekend, stealing three out of a possible four points from the ITECH Conference leaders. On Friday the Stars needed a questionable overtime goal to get by the Bombers 4-3, but on Saturday the Bombers led from the first drop of the puck, handing them a convincing 6-2 beating. Dale Pettit got the call to start in both games, putting together two solid efforts. Michael George scored the weekend's first goal, beating Pettit on the power play at 4:42 of the first period on Friday. Tyler Beachell replied with an unassisted goal on an unbelievable move to fool the defense at 8:28. Riley Lang put the Stars ahead again at 17:32, giving Battleford a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. Andrew Leslie scored the only goal of the second period on a beautiful feed from Richard Dupre during a power play. The goal came at 11:47 and was also assisted by Clayton Geiger. Brett Jullion scored his 20th of the season for the Stars at 15:00, but at 16:22, Blake Rolston tied the game, with Geiger picking up his second assist. The Bombers were robbed of a scoring chance early in overtime when Beachell was hauled down on a partial breakaway. Then George scored at 2:30 with the net already knocked off it's pegs. Flin Flon was out shot 38-27, and both teams scored one power-play goal on five chances. The Bombers wasted no time in getting to goaltender Dustin MacDonald, who entered the game with the league's best goals against average. Flin Flon beat him on two of the first four shots of the game, chasing him from the net just 1:20 into the contest. Tyler Beachell scored his 20th of the season just 20 seconds after the opening face off, with Dalton Pajak and Andrew Leslie assisting. Richard Dupre made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 1:20 with Blake Rolston and Clayton Geiger assisting. Guillaume Miszczak didn't do any better in net, as Rolston scored a short handed goal from Pettit and Beachell at 5:43. It was their first shot on Miszczak. Michael George stopped the bleeding for the Stars, scoring a power-play goal at 11:32 to make it a 3-1 game after the first period. Beachell completed the Gordie Howe hat trick in the first period with a goal, assist and a fight, dropping the gloves with Brett Jullion to send a message to the Stars. The teams exchanged goals in the second period. Scott Maunula made it a one goal game at 3:00, but Beachell's second of the game at 12:32 from Leslie and David Holinaty restored Flin Flon's two goal lead. The goal would stand up to be the eventual game winner. The Stars poured on the pressure in the third period, out shooting the Bombers 14-5, but Pettit was up to the task, turning aside everything he faced. Instead, the Bombers scored twice. Bradyn McCullough scored his third of the season at 0:52 from Pajak and Beachell. It was Beachell's fourth point of the night. At 19:58, Nate Wilson scored into the empty net to ice the 6-2 win. The Stars out shot the Bombers 42-36, but Dale Pettit was up to the task with a 40-save performance. Flin Flon scored one power-play goal on five chances, while the Stars scored once on seven chances, including a five-minute major handed out to Blake McCullough for hitting Michael George from behind. George laid on the ice for five minutes to draw the major penalty, and then was out on the ensuing power-play, not missing a single shift. Healthy crowds of around 1,000 fans took in each game. The Bombers will be in Melfort on Wednesday to play the Mustangs. Last time these two teams met, Melfort pounded Flin Flon for an embarrassing 11-3 loss on January 29. As good as it was to take it to the Stars on Saturday, you can be sure that the Bombers were thinking ahead to Wednesday's date with the Mustangs. Flin Flon will play their last home game of the season against the La Ronge Ice Wolves, before closing the books on the 2004-05 season in La Ronge on Saturday.2/14/2005
