Flin Flon got a front row seat to the Ryder Ringor show Friday night. The forward scored a hat-trick en route to a 5-2 Bomber victory.
The Bombers got back in the win column after a shock 3-0 defeat to last-place Nipawin last week, wearing down the visiting Bruins and pulling away in the third.
Ringor got the party started in the first, coming into the zone and, while having his head fully turned to a teammate for a possible pass, ripping a wrist shot top corner without even looking at the net - Estevan goalie Beck Boiteau stood little chance to stop it.
The Bombers had a prime chance to extend the lead moments later on a powerplay, but couldn't convert. That proved costly, with Liam Hunks getting caught off-guard after the end of the powerplay, flipping the puck into the neutral zone during a Bomber line change and creating a two-on-none for the Bruins. Luke Hogan and Hayden Pimm came in on Matt Kieper, Hogan kept the puck, fired and beat the goalie, tying the game at one.
The Bombers would get a pair of late chances, with Ringor getting a breakaway chance in the final minute of the first but missing the net. Joey Lies, who was named the Bombers' community ambassador for the season in a pre-game ceremony, almost got on the board himself, as did Reid Arberry, who was tripped before getting a shot off. The first period ended with both teams tied at one.
Boiteau stood on his head for the second period, with Estevan's defence beginning to falter. The Bombers put 22 shots on the Bruin goal in the second period alone, including a great chance by Hunks and several opportunities in close, but Boiteau stopped them all.
Flin Flon narrowly dodged disaster in the period when Ryder Mucha, while chasing down a defender in the corner, caught a rut in the ice and crashed into the Whitney Forum boards untouched. The play was eerily similar to the one that took fellow Bomber Leighton Carruthers last month, but Mucha was able to stay in the game. The game remained tied at ones going into the third.
In that third, the Bombers finally made it work. After some early chances, Ringor got the Bombers back ahead on the powerplay, blowing a one-timer clean through Boiteau. Not long after, following a Bomber penalty kill, Arberry and Rhett Ewen broke in a two-on-one where Arberry kept, fired and scored, pulling Flin Flon ahead by two.
The Bruins wouldn't go away quietly, getting back into the game thanks to a blown assignment - Kent Moors, the Bruins' leading scorer, was left wide open in front of Kieper, caught a pass into the slot and scored at point-blank range, cutting the lead to one. Flin Flon would battle back in the final moments to ice the game, starting with Ringor, catching a pass after a superb individual effort by Anthony Piccininno and one-timing it home. Hats hit the ice in honour of Ringor's achievement and the Bombers finally had a comfortable lead with 2:19 left.
In the final moments, Flin Flon got insurance from the Bombers' top line - Ringor broke into the zone on a late powerplay, Koen Senft caught a drop pass and fired it off to Keefe Gruener, wide open at the side of the net, for a tap-in goal. The Bombers scored four goals in the third period, three of which were in the last half of the period.
Ewen would wrap the night up with a scrap against Estevan's Bo Doxtator - Ewen got the lion's share of punches and got the takedown, bloodying Doxtator and sending both players off to the showers 23 seconds early. Cooler heads prevailed, the moose leg hit the ice and the Bombers added two more points in the standings.
Kieper made 26 stops for the victory - Boiteau stopped 40 shots in the defeat.
Not only did Ringor have a four-point night, he did it with family in the building - his twin brother Rylan, who was traded to Estevan at the league trade deadline. Rylan was previously on the Melfort Mustangs before being dealt twice, first to the MJHL's Dauphin Kings, then again to the Bruins. In four games between the brothers, Ryder's Bombers have won three out of four times.
The Bombers remain in second place in the league standings with a 30-10-3-1 record and 64 points, only behind first-place Melfort and their 35-7-0-0 record and 70 points. Weyburn, who occupies third in the standings, took a tough loss to La Ronge Friday, keeping them eight points back of the Bombers in the standings.
With 12 games left in the regular season schedule, the Bombers' magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to three - ninth-place La Ronge, who play Weyburn again Saturday, are the team that would most affect that. A Bomber win and an Ice Wolves loss Saturday night would clinch a playoff spot for the Bombers.
The Bombers and Bruins will face off again at the Forum Saturday night.
