The Flin Flon Bombers survived a scare from the SJHL’s last place team Wednesday night, snagging a 5-3 win and continuing on a flawless southern road trip.
Flin Flon took down the Melville Millionaires despite Melville getting on the board first – Rin Beny scored a powerplay marker midway through the first period, giving the Mils a 1-0 lead. Cole Rafuse and Mason Kaspick added a pair of second period markers to give Flin Flon the lead, but Aidan Steinke tied things up late in the period.
Melville regained a lead in the third frame after a powerplay goal by Zach McIntyre.
The Mils had a 3-2 lead late in the third, but with less than two minutes to go in the period, Alec Malo received a penalty shot and made no mistake, tying things up.
Moments later, the Bombers went back on the offensive. With barely half a minute to go, the Bombers reentered the zone and pounded away on Berkeliev. After a frenzy in front of the goal, Malo found the puck and slipped it in, scoring the go-ahead goal and giving the Bombers a late lead.
Following the goal, a spat over an injury sustained by a Mils player on the play led to Melville coach Kyle Adams getting sent to the dressing room.
The Bombers would add some insurance seconds later, with Zach Bannister adding an empty-netter on his former team.
Melville only managed 19 shots on the night, with Bomber goalie Jacob Delorme making 16 saves.
The loss makes it all but impossible for the Millionaires to make it into the playoffs – Melville currently has 34 points in 46 games, meaning the team would have to win all of their remaining 12 games and receive substantial help to clear Estevan’s 48 points for the last playoff spot. The Bombers, on the other hand, are the second team in the SJ to punch their playoff ticket, sitting second in the league with 69 points. The Bombers are 12 points ahead of third place Nipawin in the league standings and in the Sherwood division standings.
The Bombers will continue on with their southern road swing Friday and Saturday with a pair of games against the Notre Dame Hounds and Estevan Bruins.
