The Flin Flon Bombers are now in dire straits, going down 3-0 in their series with a 3-2 loss to Battlefords Tuesday.
Both teams shared momentum early, until Vincent Nardone snuck a shot past Stars goalie Joel Grzybowski to give the Bombers the lead after 20.
The Stars responded in the second, tying the game up early on a goal by Matthew Fletcher. Then, a shot from the side took a bad bounce and slipped right between Bomber goalie Gabriel Waked's pads. Noah Form got credit for the goal, which put the Stars ahead 2-1.
That lasted for exactly 16 seconds. Not long after the ensuing faceoff, Chrystopher Collin was sprung on a breakaway and beat Grzybowski to tie the game up.
Less than a minute later, Collin was heading in on another partial break when Stars forward Mattias Urbanski nailed Collin with a hit to the head. Collin went down immediately and laid on the ice for several moments before getting back to his feet and being taken to the dressing room. Urbanski received a five minute major for charging and was ejected from the game.
The third period featured more intense action, but no more offence. For the second time in the series, overtime would be required - though not much was needed. It only took 43 seconds for Braydon Buziak to beat a Bomber defender outside and snipe one past Waked, ending the game and giving the Battlefords the lead.
Waked made 41 saves in the loss, including a pair of highlight-reel saves in the third to keep the game tied. Grzybowski turned in a quality performance, making 32 saves for his third straight win.
The Bombers are now in the uneviable position of having to win out the rest of the series to advance. One more Stars win will push them through to the league semifinals.
Elsewhere in the league, the Yorkton Terriers have taken a surprise 2-1 series lead on the league-leading Nipawin Hawks, beating them 3-2 at home Tuesday night. Humboldt is now one win away from a semifinal berth, winning Game 4 against Estevan. Melfort was tied with Kindersley at time of writing - if Melfort wins Tuesday night, they'll sweep the Klippers and be the first team to punch their ticket to the SJHL semis.
The Bombers will hope to stay alive in Game 4 Wednesday night at the Whitney Forum.
