SJHL opening weekend is in the books as the Flin Flon Bombers earned three out of a possible four points against the Nipawin Hawks.
Over 1,200 fans took in the home opener at the Whitney Forum on Friday, where the Bombers beat the Hawks 3-2.
It was a penalty-filled game, with all five goals scored on the power play.
Flin Flon did all of its scoring in the last three minutes of the second period. Austin Evans, Chris Rauckman and Erik Pedersen scored the goals for the Bombers, while Kris Spriggs and Garrett Dunlop replied for the Hawks.
Flin Flon finished three for 13 on the power play, with Nipawin scoring twice on nine chances.
Simon Hofley made 36 saves in net for the Bombers, and Joe O’Brien was good on 44 of 47 shots in net for the Hawks.
It was a special night for Zach Garrett, who was playing in his first home opener as a local product.
“It was pretty good,” said Garrett of the experience. “I know I threw a couple of extra big hits to try and get the crowd going. It’s nice to get to play a game like that in front of your friends and family. It was fun to get a win in front of them.”
The goaltenders were busy again on Saturday night in Nipawin, as the teams combined for 100 shots over three periods plus overtime. Nothing was solved after the extra frame, and the game was decided in a shootout, with Nipawin’s Chase Thudium scoring the winner in the fifth round.
It was a big night for Chris Rauckman, who tallied three times for the Bombers. Erik Pedersen scored Flin Flon’s other goal. Scoring for the Hawks were Garret Dunlop (2), Kris Spriggs and Carter Coben.
Hofley made 53 saves in the loss, while O’Brien stopped 38 shots to earn the victory.
“For the most part I think we played pretty well,” said head coach Mike Reagan. “Like every team at this time of year, there is a lot we need to work on. I was happy our specialty team was able to contribute on the power play, but at the same time our penalty kill wasn’t very good.”
The same could be said for Nipawin, who scored all but one goal over the weekend on the power play, but allowed the Bombers to score four power play goals and one short-handed.
“Early on in the season you are going to see a lot of mistakes,” said Reagan. “It was really tough to get a flow in either game. There were 33 power play opportunities between the two teams over the weekend, and to me that’s a little ridiculous.”
