On a night when the Bombers honoured Ray Martynuik, the greatest goaltender to ever wear the bursting B, the newest netminder in the fold made 21 saves to earn a shutout in his first start.
Adam Beukeboom was perfect in the Flin Flon net this past Saturday, Nov. 15 as the Bombers dominated the Melville Millionaires 7-0.
“It was fun to coach,” said head coach Mike Reagan. “Our whole team played really well. Melville looked a little bit flat, but you still have to work, you still have to play hard.”
The Bomber played very hard, riding the momentum of a 3-2 shootout victory over the Melfort Mustangs a couple of nights earlier, and the Millionaires had no answer.
Shots after the first period were 27-7 in favour of the Bombers, who led 2-0 after the opening frame.
They never looked back, and when the dust settled, they would add three goals in the second period and two more in the third. Final shots on net were 58-21.
Led attack
Alex Smith led the attack with two goals and an assist. Chris Rauckman also had a pair of goals. Austin Evans, along with newcomers Joel Kocer and Brandon Switzer, each had a goal and two assists.
“That was probably the best night defensively that we’ve played as far as shots go,” said Reagan. “In the third period, I thought Beukeboom made two or three really good saves. We’re very comfortable with him from his first showing. It was a good first impression for all the new guys.”
Flin Flon will look to carry this momentum forward through tonight’s game against the Kindersley Klippers.
The Klippers hold a nine-point lead over their nearest competitor in the Kramer Division.
“I think our guys have got to be hungry,” said Reagan. “We haven’t seen Kindersley this year, but they have a lot of guys returning. We knew that they were going to be pretty solid, and they probably have the best goaltender in the league.”
The Klippers are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, largely due to the play of goalie Evan Weninger, who owns a miniscule 1.97 goals-against average and a 15-3-1 record.
Reagan will have to make a tough decision as to who will start in net for the Bombers.
“It’s tough not to play a guy who just got a shutout,” he said. “[Simon] Hofley’s been really good as of late, too.”
Offensively, the game will feature some of the league’s top scorers. Flin Flon’s Rauckman and Kindersley’s Owen LaClare are tied for the goal-scoring lead with 18 markers. Also leading the way with 30 points, LaClare is two ahead of Rauckman, who is third overall.
There are three other Bombers in the top 10 in scoring. Alex Smith is fourth with 26 points, Dean Allison is tied for sixth with 22, and Parker Evans-Campbell is 10th with 19.
