The Bombers took another home ice win Friday night, taking the Hounds to the pound in a 5-1 victory.
Flin Flon took over the game just moments in and didn't let up, opening the weekend up with two points.
The Bombers opened up shop in the Hounds' zone early on, taking advantage of an early Notre Dame penalty to open the scoring. With a man up, former Hound Liam Hunks took a point shot, Koen Senft found the rebound and shovelled it off to Keefe Gruener at the side of the goal. The veteran forward poked it into the net behind Notre Dame goalie Spencer Borsos, getting goal number 29 this season - currently tops in the SJHL.
The Hounds were overpowered through the first period, with the Bombers getting more shots during an early penalty than the Hounds did on the powerplay. Ryder Mucha would capitalize for Flin Flon not long after, stepping into the high slot and putting a shot through traffic that beat Borsos upstairs. The Bombers entered the second up 2-0.
The momentum continued in the second, with Anthony Piccininno getting in on the act shorthanded. Ryder Ringor sprung Piccininno on a breakaway, with the Toronto native coming in and beating Borsos five-hole. Piccininno nearly got on the board again soon after, jumping on a Hounds D-zone turnover, but Borsos stopped him when needed.
Notre Dame got on the board late in the second, breaking Kenny Marquart's shutout bid with a rare hometown bounce for the visitors. Marquart tried playing the puck up and off the glass, but the puck hit a stanchion and jumped out for Maclean Cooney, who fired his first goal of the year off the post and in.
The Hounds kept pushing, but saw little success. Anthony Nolan pushed forward late in the second to get a chance off a rush in close, but Marquart rushed out to meet him and beat him to the puck. The pair collided and Nolan got the worst of it, flying into the endboards and staying down for a moment after impact. Nolan got up under his own power and got to the bench, staying in the game - the Bombers kept their two-goal lead entering the second.
Flin Flon didn't get a ton of chances in the second, but they kept the Hounds in their own zone for most of the third, turning the screws for most of the last 20 minutes. That paid off late with a pair of goals, the first of which came when Piccininno snuck in past a pair of tired Hound defenders and successfully went five-hole on Borsos. The Hounds did themselves no favours following that, taking two penalties on the same play late and going down five-on-three to Flin Flon - it was then Koen Senft's chance to get on the board, pumping home an open one-timer in the slot after a tic-tac-toe passing play.
Flin Flon's night wasn't all sunshine and lollipops though - a big question mark came late in the third when Carter Cormier went down hurt. With less than two minutes to go, Cormier got tangled up with defender and former Bomber teammate Wylie Smith, hitting the ice awkwardly and hobbling back to the bench. No penalties were called and the Kindersley native did not hit the ice for the final moments. The Bombers are already down to 11 forwards due to various injuries, having to play defender Emerson Clark up front to fill the void with Leighton Carruthers, Kylynn Olafson and Wyatt Stinton each out of the lineup.
Marquart got the win and came within inches of a shutout, making 18 saves on 19 Notre Dame shots. Borsos saw a Michelinesque amount of rubber, stopping 42 Bomber shots on the night.
The Bombers exit Friday night's game with a 32-10-3-1 record and 68 points, six points back of Melfort for first in the league but eight points ahead of Weyburn for third place.
While the Bombers and Mustangs have already clinched playoff spots, the SJHL now has one team confirmed to miss the playoffs - Nipawin, who, with a loss to the Red Wings Friday, are now too far behind eight-place Kindersley to catch up with 10 games to go. The Hounds are also close to the axe - a Bomber win Saturday against Notre Dame, along with at least one point by both Kindersley and Humboldt, will likely end their playoff hopes for the season.
Flin Flon and Notre Dame will renew hostilities Saturday night at the Forum.
