A banner night at the Whitney Forum Wednesday saw the rookies take the spotlight in a 9-2 beatdown of Nipawin.
Nipawin started the night down two of their best players, with captain Finley Radloff and star rookie Mason Karakochuk both out nursing injuries. The Hawks would have a hard time without that duo and the Bombers made them pay.
Flin Flon's offence got going barely three minutes in, with hometown boy Wyatt Stinton getting a backhand on a loose puck in the slot - Stinton whacked it past goalie Nathan Claydon and made it 1-0. Later in the frame, the Bombers extended that lead, with Stinton spotting Landon Alexander across the slot and feeding him a one-timer pass that the rookie buried, giving him his first goal as a Bomber. Konnor Watson brought Nipawin within one, jumping on a great pass by the Hawks' Carter Anderson, but that 2-1 margin was as close as it would get for the visitors.
Just 16 seconds into the second period, Anthony Piccininno got on the board, getting the last poke on the rebound from a Ryder Ringor shot. Moments later, the Bombers almost got number four, with a Joey Lies shot that trickled through Claydon's pads and was just barely kept out of the net, thanks to Nipawin defender Jack Mitchell. The puck never crossed the line, while some of the Bombers were adamant that Mitchell closed his hand on the puck in the crease to keep it out, which would earn Flin Flon a penalty shot - that call wasn't made and the game continued.
The hand in the crease wouldn't matter in the end. Neither would another pair of chances, by Stinton and fellow local boy Ryder Mucha, on a wraparound and rebound that barely stayed out. Nipawin's offence was almost totally silent and Flin Flon's cranked the volume up.
Leighton Carruthers found the twine behind Claydon for goal number four on the night, taking a feed from Ringor in the high slot and burying it. That opened the floodgates - Stinton got his second of the night, hopping on a bouncing puck and hammering a shot through traffic and into the net. Less than a minute later, Koen Senft got in on the act, going in on a two-on-one with Ringor and burying another lovely feed. That goal ended Claydon's night, a tough one in the Hawk net - the goalie made 20 saves in less than half an hour of work, receiving almost no help from his team.
With Gage Roberts in the Hawks' goal, the Bombers' torrid pace slowed a bit, but not completely. Piccininno got his second of the night late in the period on a play that summed up Nipawin's night - a first shot that Roberts saved, but bounced off defenceman Brady Seabrook and into the net. Flin Flon had scored a touchdown's worth of goals before the end of the second period, while Nipawin had barely as many shots as Flin Flon had goals.
Maybe the most consequential moment of the second period for the Bombers wasn't a goal or offensive play though - it came with four minutes to go on a penalty kill, where Carruthers, chasing down a puck in the Nipawin zone, caught a rut in the ice and crashed into the boards, hitting the dasher shoulder-first. Carruthers went back to the bench in pain and did not return to the game.
The third period started with Nipawin getting on the board, with Bomber goalie Kenny Marquart making a big save but leaving a rebound in front that Will Whitter jumped on, making it 7-2. The Bombers wouldn't stay up only five for long, with Alexander getting the last touch on an Emerson Clark point shot and getting his second of the night.
Evin Bossel nearly extended the lead with a bullet of a shot off the rush, but he clanged it off the top corner post and out. The Bombers spent long periods in the Nipawin zone without making big pushes to the goal - up six goals against the league's worst team in the standings, Flin Flon played with their food for minutes at a time.
Ryder Mucha got a prime chance late, going in on a breakaway before being horsecollared from behind by Mitchell. After some spirited discussion, Mitchell and Bomber captain Cole Tanchuk dropped the mitts. Tanchuk got the takedown, Mitchell got bloodied and both players were sent to the dressing room.
Not long after the scrap, Piccininno put a shot on net that caught Stinton's stick on its way toward the net. The hometown boy knocked it home, giving Stinton his first career junior hat-trick. Teammates snagged the puck for Stinton, fans tossed hats on the ice and the Bombers would ride smoothly to the finish, getting their 17th straight win over the Hawks and their 17th straight game with a point.
Marquart had a quiet night in the Bomber crease but stood tall when needed, making 12 saves on 14 Nipawin shots. The Nipawin goalies were pelted - Claydon ate the loss with 20 saves, while Roberts stopped 33 shots.
The Bombers' win, combined with a Yorkton loss, pushed Flin Flon into sole possession of second in the SJHL standings with 45 points, ahead of both Yorkton's 43 and Weyburn's 42 - the Wings defeated Yorkton, leapfrogging Battlefords and taking fourth. Melfort remains first in the league with 56 points, 11 ahead of the Bombers.
The team's 17-strong point streak has set modern Bomber history - the Bombers have not had a pointstreak that long since at least 2006-07, when the SJHL brought in the shootout to prevent ties. The Bombers' last regulation loss was on the road against Melfort the night before Halloween - since then, the Bombers have gone 15-0-1-1, racking up 32 of a possible 34 points. The Bombers were out of a playoff spot when the streak began - the team is now sitting pretty in second place.
Flin Flon's offensive outburst also puts the Bombers into a tie with Yorkton for the most goals-for of any SJHL team this season - both teams have scored 129 times, while the Bombers have given up just 89 goals against.
The win is the Bombers' final game before the Jan. 10 roster deadline. Following that, the Bombers will head to Humboldt for a weekend doubleheader with the Broncos - a Saturday night matchup Jan. 11, followed by a Sunday matinee Jan. 12.
