The monkey has been torn off the Bombers' back. The team gutted out a 2-1 win over Humboldt Saturday, ending a five-game losing skid.
After a homestand from hell in which the Bombers' offence couldn't produce and the defence couldn't keep up, the team finally got back in the win column in a 60-minute grit-filled effort.
Neither team produced much early, but the fun truly began in the second period, with a slight dose of rough stuff. One night after a controversial goalie interference penalty against the Bombers, a second one took place on almost exactly the same play - this time, Humboldt's Jeter Korte forklifted Rhett Ewen into Humboldt goalie Edouard Gauthier, with all three players crashing into the Humboldt net. Gauthier was fine and even got his own pound of flesh in after the collision, throwing some blocker punches to the back of Ewen's head while the Bomber laid on the ice under Korte.
When the dust settled, Ewen was assessed with a goalie interference call despite being pushed into the goalie, while Gauthier got a roughing call for his rabbit punches.
Flin Flon took advantage even with a man in the box though, with defenceman Nate Schaefer taking a pass in the high slot on a broken play and burning it clean past Gauthier. It was the Michigan native's first-ever goal in Canadian junior hockey, just the second goal by a Bomber D-man this season - and most importantly, it got the Bombers a lead.
That lead would not last long though - and Schaefer played a role in that change. Less than a minute after the high of his goal, Schaefer took the low of a holding call, giving Humboldt a man advantage they almost immediately used to tie the game - Korte, barely a minute of game time after sending a player into his own goalie and with Ewen still in the box for his part in the play, was left wide open near the net and scored on his own rebound, doing a little shimmy to celebrate tying the game.
The Bombers almost took that lead back with Ryder Mucha coming painfully close to his first goal as a Bomber, getting stopped on a partial break. Right after, Mucha got dumped into the boards awkwardly by Orin Olson, who got sent to the box for the hit - the Bombers couldn't convert on the powerplay. Nash Holmes took a penalty not long after for a big hit on Humboldt's Gabriel Filion, but Humboldt couldn't convert either. More late, desperate chances by the Bombers came in the final moments of the second, with Gauthier's stick lost in the corner, but nobody could convert. Both teams entered the dressing rooms tied at one - deadlocked after 40 minutes for the second time on the weekend.
This time, it was Flin Flon's turn to convert early in the third, taking advantage of a sudden goalie switch - two minutes into the third, Gauthier was pulled for Ty Matonovich, who played against the Bombers Friday. With no chance for a warmup or a proper stretch, the Bombers tried to test the goalie early and it paid off, with Reid Arberry banging in his first of the season near the net. Arberry, who missed the entire preseason with injuries, celebrated hard - as did his teammates. The moment of catharsis put the Bombers ahead by one.
Flin Flon held onto that lead for dear life, even through a pair of undisciplined penalties - the Bombers killed them both off. More pressure came late in the third, when desperate for an insurance goal, Carter Anderson went in front and met a sequence of crosschecks to the back by Oakley McIlwain. McIlwain was penalized for the stickwork, but was able to goad Anderson into a roughing penalty in the corner after the whistle, robbing the Bombers of their most potent shooter with a man up late. Flin Flon didn't convert, even after a second penalty came up and extended the powerplay.
Matonovich was pulled in the final minute and Humboldt pressed on, but Marquart came up huge in his best game so far this season, stopping two chances in close while his defence flung the puck out of harm's way in the dying seconds. It was a tough test to be sure, but the Bombers passed it, getting two much-needed points and ending their longest losing skid in years.
Marquart saved 39 of 40 shots by the Broncos, earning a big win. Matonovich played less than a period but was stuck with the loss after giving up the game-winner, saving eight of nine shots - Gauthier made 33 saves for Humboldt.
The win keeps the Bombers in a playoff spot - barely. Flin Flon currently sits eighth in the league with 13 points and a 6-8-1-0 record - just ahead of La Ronge, who have 11 points in one fewer game. Tenth-place Estevan is three points back of the Bombers, but has played four fewer games - the Bombers, when going by team points percentage, are ninth in the league, meaning if current trends continue, the club would risk missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Bombers face division rivals - and current league number-ones - Melfort on the road Oct. 30, then again at home Nov. 8. Through 13 games this season, Melfort has gone 10-3 - one of those losses came to the Bombers Oct. 11, the team's last win before Saturday's triumph.
