The battle for first place in the Sherwood Division was won by the Melfort Mustangs this past weekend.
The Mustangs walked away from the Whitney Forum with four points, beating the Flin Flon Bombers 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday night and leaving no question who the better team was on Sunday with a 4-0 shutout win.
It was Flin Flon’s first loss on home ice in regulation time this season.
The first-place showdown was set up by a Flin Flon win in La Ronge on Friday night, as the Bombers cruised to a 5-1 victory, leaving them tied with the Mustangs for first place heading into Saturday’s action.
Near perfect
Flin Flon netminder Connor Slipp was near perfect on Friday, allowing only a power play goal in the final two minutes of the game to earn his first win of the season.
The Bombers outshot the Ice Wolves 43-26, and finished the game 2-8 on the power play.
Tyler Bell’s first goal of the season midway through the second period stood as the game winner.
For the Bombers, Chris Rauckman padded his stats with a goal and three assists, and Erik Pedersen and Parker Evans-Campbell each had a goal and an assist. Austin Calladine had Flin Flon’s other goal, and captain Dean Allison chipped in with three helpers.
The win improved Flin Flon’s road record to 4-2-1-2.
On Saturday, the Bombers came within a minute of winning in regulation time, but Dawven Berggren’s goal with 1:01 left tied the game at 3-3 and sent it to overtime. Melfort’s Luc Lemire was the hero in the shootout, scoring the winning goal in the sixth round.
Alex Smith opened the scoring for the Bombers just 31 seconds in with a penalty shot goal. Rauckman and Allison had the other goals for the Bombers.
Rauckman continues to lead the team offensively. His goal Saturday was his 16th of the season and 26th point in 18 games. He is second in league scoring for both goals and points, trailing Kindersley’s Owen LaClare by one goal and two points.
Bombers goaltender Simon Hofley was busy as his team was outshot 49-31. However, in the third period, Flin Flon really put the pressure on, outshooting Melfort 17-8 and scoring twice.
On Sunday, a missed assignment allowed a dangerous Adam Fauchoux to score just 23 seconds after the opening faceoff. That goal would prove to be the game winner as Flin Flon had a tough time getting momentum going.
For the second night in a row, the Bombers were outshot by the Mustangs, this time 38-24. Flin Flon seemed to get better as the night went on but couldn’t find an answer for goaltender Zach DeGraves, who earned his first shutout of the season.
“We were really physical in the second and third period,” said Bombers head coach Mike Reagan. “That, I liked. We need to continue to do that to slow them down.”
The game was a lot closer than the score indicated. The were within striking distance until the final minutes of the third period, when the Mustangs scored twice to ice the win.
One major positive for Flin Flon was penalty killing. Melfort was unable to score on eight power play opportunities, including a lengthy five-on-three advantage.
Unfortunately, Flin Flon’s power play wasn’t clicking, and the Bombers failed to score on six chances with the man advantage.
Rematch tonight
The Bombers won’t have to wait long to try and even the score as the two teams go head to head tonight in Melfort.
“We are approaching this game as a must-win,” said Reagan. “Our guys are disappointed in how they played this weekend and want to see Melfort again.”
The Mustangs lead the Bombers by three points for first place in the Sherwood Division.
Next home action for the Bombers is Saturday, Nov. 15 when the Melville Millionaires will be in town. The Millionaires lead the Viterra Division but are currently on a two-game losing skid.See ‘Reagan’ on pg. 7
Continued from pg. goal and an assist. Austin Calladine had Flin Flon’s other goal, and captain Dean Allison chipped in with three helpers.
The win improved Flin Flon’s road record to 4-2-1-2.
On Saturday, the Bombers came within a minute of winning the game in regulation, but Dawven Berggren’s goal with 1:01 left on the clock tied the game at 3-3 and sent it to overtime. Luc Lemire was the hero in the shoot out, scoring the winning goal in the sixth round.
Alex Smith opened the scoring for the Bombers just 31 seconds into the game with a penalty shot goal. Chris Rauckman and Dean Allison had the other goals for the Bombers. Rauckman continues to lead the team offensively. His goal Saturday night was his 16th of the season and 26th point in 18 games. He is second in league scoring for both goals and points, trailing Kindersley’s Owen LaClare by one goal and two points.
Goaltender Simon Hofley was busy, as the Bombers were outshot 49-31. However, in the third period, Flin Flon really put the pressure on out shooting Melfort 17-8 and scoring twice.
On Saturday, a missed assignment allowed a dangerous Adam Fauchoux to score just 23 seconds after the opening face off. That goal would prove to be the game winner, as Flin Flon had a tough time getting any momentum going.
For the second night in a row, the Bombers were out shot by the Mustangs, this time 38-24. Flin Flon seemed to get better as the night went on, but couldn’t find an answer for goaltender Zach DeGraves, who earned his first shut out of the season.
“We were really physical in the second and third period,” said head coach Mike Reagan. “That, I liked. We need to continue to do that to slow them down.”
The game was a lot closer than the score may indicate. The Bombers kept the Mustangs within striking distance until the final minutes of the third period, where they scored twice to ice the win.
One major positive was Flin Flon’s penalty killing. Melfort was unable to score on eight power play opportunities, including a lengthy five-on-three advantage. Unfortunately, their power play wasn’t clicking, and the Bombers failed to score on the six chances with the man advantage.
Rematch tonight
The Bombers won’t have to wait long to try and even the score, as the two teams will go head to head in Melfort tonight.
“We are approaching this game as a must win,” said Reagan. “Our guys are disappointed in how they played this weekend and want to see Melfort again.”
The Mustangs lead the Bombers by three points for first place in the Sherwood Division.
Next home action for the Bombers is Saturday, November 15 when the Melville Millionaires will be in town. The Millionaires lead the Viterra Division but are currently on a two-game losing skid.
