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.
Fans of the Flin Flon Bombers left the arena on Saturday night wondering what happened to the Bombers that started the season undefeated in six games. The Bombers were beat 5-3 on Friday night by the Melville Millionaires, and humiliated 11-2 on Saturday night. For the first time this season, the Bombers lost a game after scoring the first goal. Tyler Stinton opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at 16:58 of the first period, picking up the puck at the Melville blueline and firing a low shot that made it through traffic. Melville tied the game before the period was over, as the Bombers couldn't clear their zone during four-on-four play. Matt Stefanishion scored at 18:15 and the game was tied after the first period. The game may have been tied on the score sheet, but it was all Melville on the ice, as the Bombers were out shot 17-4 in the opening frame. Troy Ciernia kept the game close, making several big saves to give his team a chance, but his team came out flat in the second period as well, and Melville scored three more goals to take a 4-1 lead going into the third period. Jordan Hack gave Melville the lead at 1:01, and Matt Stefanishion scored his second and third goals of the game at 11:11 and 19:57. Again, the Bombers were badly out shot, this time 14-5. The Bombers finally came to life in the third period, but not before Bear Trapp made it 5-0 with a short handed goal at 7:20. John Iron netted his third goal of the season on the power play at 8:06, with Joey Moggach and Andrew Skrabek assisting, and Donald Milburn's unassisted goal at 8:36 made the score 5-3 with lots of time left on the clock. The Bombers pressed to try and make the game closer, but couldn't get another puck by goaltender Quinton Gauthier. The Bombers and Millionaires both scored one power-play goal. Flin Flon had seven chances with the man-advantage, while Melville had five chances. The Bombers were out shot 42-25 in the game. The Bombers came out stronger in the first period on Saturday night, but faded quickly after failing to score on three power-play chances. Matt Stefanishion could have put the Bombers down single-handed, as he scored another three goals, outscoring the Bombers by himself 6-5 over the weekend. He scored Melville's first two goals on Saturday night, at 12:17 and 14:01 on the powerplay. On the power-play goal, Conrad Wilgenbusch had a chance to clear the puck, but his attempt went off the defence's shin and onto Stefanishion's stick. Zach Roe was left alone in the crease and scored Melville's third goal at 14:22. Shots in the first period were 14-14. Jeff Lapointe scored his first goal as a Flin Flon Bomber early in the second period during a five-on-three power play. Andrew Skrabek had to duck the shot as he was lying on the ice and the puck was coming directly for his head. The goal was scored just 37 seconds into the second frame with John Iron and Joey Moggach assisting. On the same power play, Derek Gallagher scored from Tyler Stinton and Brennen Giroux at 1:26 and the Bombers were back in the game, down by a single goal. Melville's Matt Bergen put any hopes of a Bomber comeback on the shelf with a power-play goal at 2:36. The game really got out of hand near the end of the second period, as the Millionaires added three quick goals to take a 7-2 lead. Neil Kodman put the puck over the shoulder of Paul Reimer at 17:13, and Stefanishion netted his third of the game at 17:40. Kai Magnussen walked in uncontested from the blueline without a defenceman in sight, and scored at 18:18. After one of the Melville goals, Spencer Davis was handed a 10-minute misconduct for firing the puck out of the net and hitting the referee in the shin. It was just that kind of a night for the Flin Flon Bombers, who couldn't get any breaks. Brett Koscielny started the third period in net for the Bombers, but was chased after allowing three goals on five shots. You couldn't fault the goaltending on this night, as the team in front of them did not step on the ice prepared to play. Bear Trapp scored at 4:34 and 5:05 of the third period, and Ryan Kienas netted his first goal of the season for Melville at 5:15. Reimer came back into the game, and was beaten by Michael Zulyniak at 6:12. That goal made it 11-2 for Melville, and that was how the game would end. The Bombers were out shot 43-28 in the game, including 16-6 in the third period. Melville scored two power-play goals on six chances, while the Bombers scored both of their goals on the power play on 11 tries. Flin Flon will have little time to regroup, as they hit the road for four games in five nights starting in Melfort on Wednesday.
