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 are now five points out of a playoff spot after picking up only one point in their past three road games. After a disappointing loss to La Ronge on Wednesday night, the Bombers were in Humboldt on the weekend, where they stole a point with a 3-3 tie on Friday night and lost a goaltending battle on Saturday by a score of 2-1. Flin Flon gave up the first goal on Friday, as Jeff Furlong beat goaltender Francois Laverdrere at 19:41 of the first period. Kevin Duchaine assisted on the goal, after stripping a Bomber defenceman of the puck in the Flin Flon zone. Julian Matte netted his first goal as a Flin Flon Bomber at 12:51 of the second period, assisted by Derek Gallagher, but another bad giveaway by the Bombers in their own zone gave Humboldt a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play. Arlen Marshall scored at 18:42, with the assist going to Scott Degelman. Marshall scored his second of the game at 7:13 of the third period, but from there, the Bombers took control. Flin Flon got a break with a funny goal at 10:13 to make it a 3-2 game. Joey Moggach carried the puck from behind the Humboldt net and put a backhand on goaltender Alex Gagnon. Moggach was crosschecked into the net, and the rebound went off of Anatoliy Moshkovsky's leg and in. In the confusion, the goal was originally awarded to Jimo King, who was sitting on the bench at the time. It was later changed to Moggach, but should be credited to Moshkovsky. As it stands, Moggach has the goal, and Moshkovsky and Joe Gori the assists. Flin Flon tied the game with a rifle shot at 16:31 on the power play from Andrew Skrabek. Stewart Sjoberg assisted on the tying goal. Flin Flon out shot Humboldt 11-4 in the third period, and as time expired, Scott Degelman was assessed a two-minute penalty for slashing, giving the Bombers a power-play to start overtime. The Bombers had some great scoring chances early in extra period, but as Degelman's penalty expired, a bouncing puck got by the Bomber defencemen, sending the Humboldt forward one-on-one with Laverdrere, who came up with a huge save to keep the game knotted at 3-3. Flin Flon scored two goals on ten power play opportunities, while their penalty killing was perfect, keeping Humboldt at bay on nine chances. Unfortunately for the Bombers, their power-play would not click on Saturday night. In fact, the Bombers struggled to generate any momentum on the power play, and the Broncos had almost as many scoring chances with four attackers as the Bombers did with five. After a scoreless first period, Joey Moggach netted his 16th goal of the season at 10:35 of the second period, unassisted, batting the puck out of the air after the original shot hit the back of a Humboldt player. See 'Hit' P.# Con't from P.# The goal came 20 seconds after the Bombers had killed off a six-minute penalty to Trevor Olynick. Olynick picked up four minutes for spearing, and an additional two for arguing the call. As the second period wound down, the Bombers were hit hard with penalties again, as both Simon McCusker and Jeff LaPointe were handed two minutes each for roughing after the whistle at 19:44, putting Flin Flon down by two men. Scott Degelman scored to tie the game with one second left on the clock, with assists going to Arlen Marshall and Brendan Vanthuyne. Flin Flon battled hard in the third period, but it was the Broncos who would score at 9:38 to take a 2-1 lead. Degelman's second of the game stood up to be the game winner, with Simon Nadeau and Marshall assisting. The Bombers were out shot 33-24 in the game. Francois Laverdrere was sensational in net for the second game in a row, but the Bombers couldn't get anything going on the power play, and couldn't find ways to beat goaltender Nathan Fischl. Flin Flon was held scoreless on ten power plays, and Humboldt scored once on 11 tries with the man advantage, including a six-minute power play and a five-on-three. Five Points With 33 points in 43 games, Flin Flon is now five points back of Nipawin (38 points in 42 games) for the final playoff spot in the Dodge Conference. La Ronge has passed the Bombers as well, with 34 points in 46 games. With only 17 games left in the season, time is running out for the Bombers, who will have to find a way to put together a string of wins in a hurry. The Bombers will host the Nipawin Hawks in what could be the most important game of the season on Tuesday. Then it will be off to the Battlefords for a pair of games with the North Stars on Friday and Saturday, before making a stop in Humboldt on the way home on Sunday.
