Make it nine in a row. The Bombers' winning ways continued Saturday with a 4-0 shutout win over Melville.
Flin Flon took over early while the Mils' offence had insufficient funds, moving into third place in the league with the victory.
The Bombers killed off an early call, with Reid Arberry getting a shove into goalie Taylor Tabashniuk and drawing a goalie interference call, then opened the scoring midway through the first. Wyatt Stinton took a one-time pass in the high slot from Reid Arberry and blew it past Tabashniuk, getting the Bombers on the board.
Moments later, with Melville's Jackson Lee taking a double-minor for spearing Flin Flon's Evan Marsden, Flin Flon extended the lead - Carter Cormier caught a pass in front and knocked it home, putting the home team further up. Lee remained in the box after the play and the Bombers nearly got more goals, pouring on the offence late, but Tabashniuk stood tall. The goalie, playing as an affiliate from the Regina Pat Canadians, saved more than a shot per minute in the opening frame - it was largely due to his efforts that the Bombers' lead stayed 2-0 after 20.
The Flin Flon Minor Hockey under-sevens hit the ice in the intermission and likely got more shots than the Mils did in the first, but Melville woke up in the second, putting more shots on Flin Flon's Kenny Marquart. The keeper was up to the task though, with Flin Flon getting back on the board midway through with a lucky break. Leighton Carruthers tried hitting Keefe Gruener with a breakout pass on a rush into the zone, but the puck went off the skate of Melville's Simon Parini and in, giving Carruthers his third of the season and the Bombers a 3-0 lead.
In the third, the Bombers closed the game out around halfway through the frame with a fourth and final goal, courtesy of Anthony Piccininno. A shot in close by the forward was knocked away, but Arberry dug it free, fed him again and Piccininno converted his second effort. Melville would be unable to match, giving Flin Flon another big victory and their first shutout of the season.
Marquart got the W and his first shutout of the season, making 36 saves on the night - Tabashniuk made 42 stops against the Bombers in a losing cause.
Flin Flon was able to get another weekend sweep despite missing both forward Koen Senft and defender Luke Lepper, as well as head coach Mike Reagan - all three are in Alberta for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge. The team now moves to 2-0 with assistant coach Cole McCaig calling the shots in Reagan's absence.
The victory leapfrog the Bombers over the Mils in the league standings, putting the team into a tie with Yorkton for third in the league with 31 points. The Terriers and Bombers have identical 15-9-1-0 records, but the Bombers take the advantage on a tiebreaker - the SJHL's tiebreaking procedure gives whichever team has more wins in regulation and in 3-on-3 overtime the advantage and Yorkton has won twice in shootouts, putting them down in fourth.
The logjam in the SJHL's standings is still in place. Only four points separate the Bombers and Terriers from La Ronge, Kindersley and Humboldt, each of whom are in a three-way tie for seventh place.
Melfort is first in the league with 42 points and a 21-4-0-0 record. Only one team has beaten the Mustangs more than once this season - the Bombers, who've won against them at the Whitney Forum twice.
Flin Flon has now won nine straight games, the team's longest winning streak since their historic 12-game win streak from Sept. 29 to Oct. 27 last season. Only one team in the SJHL has a longer win streak at the moment - the Melfort Mustangs, who won their last 10 games. The Sherwood division rivals are both the last team to beat each other - Flin Flon has gone flawless since losing to the Mustangs Oct. 30, while the Mustangs haven't lost since the Bombers beat them Nov. 8.
Battlefords are currently in sole possession of second place in the league with 33 points. The Bombers will play the Stars next weekend on the road, playing in North Battleford Dec. 13-14. If the Bombers win both games, they'll be able to leapfrog the Stars and hit second place in the league standings - but a pair of weekend losses would threaten to send the Bombers down the standings.
