Make it five straight. An early onslaught from the Bombers clipped Nipawin Friday. Make the final score 5-1 Flin Flon.
A red-hot first period put the Bombers on top and they would stay there throughout. Flin Flon opened the scoring just 26 seconds in, when after a flurry of activity off the opening faceoff, Ryder Ringor would go post-and-in past goalie Nathan Claydon.
Landon Alexander, playing his first game after missing the entire season and training camp with an injury, came in with a boom early on - literally, crashing through former teammate Conor Ryan with a massive hit in the corner. Alexander was assessed a charging penalty, officials broke up a pair of skirmishes after the check, Flin Flon killed the penalty off and the band played on.
The Bombers dominated early possession, then took over with powerplay chances - Carter Anderson got nailed into the board from behind by his namesake on the Hawks, putting the Bombers up on a 5-on-3. Anderson got his revenge soon after with a powerplay blast from the point, making it 2-0 Flin Flon.
Nipawin's offence accomplished almost nothing in the first period, barely generating chances, while the Bombers kept the Hawks stuck in their own end. Claydon was shelled and most of the shots came from in close. Joey Lies got his first goal of the season midway through the frame, finally getting the monkey off his back on a rebound in the slot. Moments later, Luke Lepper also got on the board, cutting into the zone untouched and burning a wrist shot past Claydon to make it 4-0. Claydon got the mercy pull after 17 shots in barely 13 minutes, with backup Gage Roberts getting the crease for the rest of the night.
The Bombers ended the period with four goals - Nipawin ended it with just three shots.
Early in the second, Keefe Gruener extended the lead to five with a quick chip in close that beat Roberts, scoring his first goal since returning from injury earlier this month. Nipawin's Carter Anderson - not to be confused with Flin Flon's Carter Anderson, who he'd checked from behind earlier in the game - got the Hawks on the board soon after on a two-on-one rush, but the damage was done. Stick a fork in the Hawks - they were already done.
The Bomber offence closed up shop for the night, not scoring again despite many chances, especially on special teams. Any comeback attempt the Hawks could make was shot in the foot by the visitors' lack of discipline, giving the Bombers a whopping 10 powerplay chances and taking over an hour's worth of penalties.
Things boiled over in the third, with the Bombers spending most of the last part of the period in Nipawin's end with at least a man up. Nipawin, despite sporting one of the SJHL's worst penalty kills, kept the Bombers' big guns at bay in garbage time to keep the game 5-1.
More hijinks took place late in the third, when former teammates Ryan and Lies got tangled up in the Nipawin corner. Ryan dumped Lies down, Lies responded with some shoving and when that was repaid in kind, the Bomber dropped his gloves. Ryan, giving up a substantial size disadvantage, threw some quick shots but kept his gloves on, while Nipawin's Justus Cutler moseyed on into the fray, dropping his mitts and jumping in as a third man to fight Lies.
By the time the dust had settled, Lies was ejected for the fight, Ryan was sent to the room, Cutler was thrown out for being third man in (and may face a suspension for doing so), the Hawks' Henry Smith was given a misconduct for shouting at officials and also booted and the Nipawin bench took a minor penalty too.
Off of one play, the Bombers lost Lies and the Hawks saw three players ejected - and the Bombers went on a five-on-three. Flin Flon didn't convert, but hung on to their lead until the end - despite another late penalty from the Hawks, a board by Nipawin captain Finley Radloff on Anthony Piccininno. The Hawks headed home with their 13th loss of the season, while the Bombers' winning streak kept right on chooglin'.
Kenny Marquart got the win on a slow night in the Flin Flon crease, saving 15 of just 16 Nipawin shots. Claydon was tagged with the loss, making 13 saves in the first period - Roberts stopped 31 of 32 shots the rest of the way.
With the win, Flin Flon moves into a four-way tie for sixth in the league standings with 23 points, tied with Humboldt, Melville and Kindersley. The Bombers are just two points back of two other squads, La Ronge and Battlefords, who are tied for fourth in the league.
The Bombers and Hawks will play again Saturday night, this time at Nipawin's Centennial Arena.
