Four down, eight to go. Get the brooms out.
The Flin Flon Bombers swept the Broncos Wednesday night, gutting out a 2-1 victory in Humboldt to move on to the second round.
The first period saw no scoring but no lack of action. Action erupted late in the period following a big hit by Donavan Houle-Villeneuve, ending in scads of penalty minutes – a fight between Bomber Alec Malo and Humboldt’s Nicksha Eric, a two minute boarding sit for Houle-Villeneuve and 10-minute misconducts for Bomber Dane Hirst and Humboldt’s Josh Paulhus.
The second period saw the offence get going, with Zach Bannister picking a good time to score his first SJHL playoff goal in three seasons in the league. Humboldt tied the game up four minutes later with Bomber captain Mason Martin sitting in the box. Karter McNarland got a powerplay marker, sending the teams to the dressing rooms tied at 1.
The Bombers found the twine again in the third, with Easton Haygarth scoring his fourth goal of the series midway through the period. Humboldt made a late push with goalie Brendan Forman on the bench for an extra skater, but it proved all for naught.
Cal Schell suited up in the Bomber net for his first SJHL playoff game, replacing Jacob Delorme and standing on his head. Humboldt threw 45 shots at Schell, but he saved all but one of them. Forman took the biggest L of Humboldt’s season despite a quality showing, making 31 saves.
Some lineup changes forced improvisation for the Bombers. With only four defencemen ready to go for game time, forward Caleb Franklin dropped back on D and played significant time. Defenders Ryder Richmond and Troy Quinn, who both played in Game 3 Tuesday, were out of the lineup.
Elsewhere in the SJ, Battlefords will not get a first-round sweep. Nipawin surprised the Stars at the Cage, beating them 5-3 and forcing a Game 5 in the Battlefords Friday night.
The Melfort Mustangs took a 3-1 lead in their series, beating Estevan 2-1. La Ronge tied their series with the Terriers back up at two wins each with a 5-1 win.
As the Bombers are the first (and so far, only) SJHL team to lock up a spot in round two, it is unknown when the Bombers will start the next round. However, the Bombers will have home-ice advantage for Game 1 and Game 2.
