The Bombers got a win and made a statement Saturday night, routing Kindersley 8-0 and taking a 2-0 series lead.
Flin Flon got on the good foot barely a minute in, scoring for the second straight game on the team's first shot. Alexi Sylvestre was sprung in on a rush, beat the defenders wide and went post-in on Logan Falk, giving the Bombers a 1-0 lead barely a minute in. The Klippers tried to get their own offence established, but Pierce Yakimchuk, playing his first playoff game as a Bomber, helped break that up by lighting up former teammate Brock Mueller with a hip check while he tried entering the zone.
The maroon and white got on the board again moments later on one of the nastiest Whitney Forum bounces the rink has seen all season. While killing a penalty, Luke Lepper dumped the puck down and it bounced off a crack in the boards near the door to Kindersley's dressing room. handcuffing Falk and jumping the puck into the slot. Keefe Gruener jumped on that puck and Falk fell trying to reach it, giving Gruener a wide-open net and one of the easiest goals he'll ever score. 2-0 Flin Flon, less than five minutes in.
The hits just kept coming for Flin Flon, as the team got a powerplay and extended the lead to three, as Sylvestre got the last touch on a chaotic scrum in front of Falk, knocking the puck in through his legs. Near the end of the frame, Sylvestre completed the first-period hat-trick, catching a rebound near the net and knocking it past Falk, making it 4-0 and chasing Falk from the game. Tempers started running high for the Klippers as the first period ran down, with a couple of players seeking dance partners unsuccessfully, but the Bombers ended the second up four goals. The Klippers would never get any closer than that.
In the second, the Bombers got another powerplay marker thanks to Jacob Vockler, who corralled a loose puck and zoomed it right past Cody Jaman glove-side. Yet another goal came courtesy of Kylynn Olafson, who was able to get control of the puck near Jaman and flipped it over him, with almost no resistance from the Klippers' defence.
Heading into the third, pressure continued to build between the Bombers and Klippers, culminating in a fight between Dawson Karol and the Klippers' John Vanden Elzen - Vanden Elzen, who has a couple of inches and about 15 pounds on Karol according to league data, got the takedown and the judges' decision, with both players sent to their respective rooms.
More rough stuff came seven minutes into the third, when Flin Flon and Kindersley started a near line-brawl in the corner after Perlinger and Noah Houle exchanged pleasantries - Perlinger tripped Houle and earned a penalty for it, leading to Houle taking down Perlinger, both players' teammates coming in and everybody grabbing a dance partner to do-see-do. By the time the dust settled, three players on each team got 10-minute misconducts - Jerome Gilbert, Houle and Tyson Smith for Flin Flon, Nathan DeGraves, Perlinger and Kale Taylor for the visitors - and the game rolled along.
Russ Demo got his name on the penalty sheet for knocking Vockler into the boards hard from behind, sending the American sniper into the boards head-first. Demo got two minutes and Vockler got up from the hit, then scored a goal to make it an even touchdown for the Bombers, popping a puck over Jaman's shoulder in close.
Finally, with Demo in the box again, Anthony Bax sent Bomber fans home with a nightcap, blasting a slapshot from the point past Jaman's glove side, making it 8-0. Flin Flon almost got a ninth on a few chances late, including an Olafson shot that bonked the post and a possible hat-trick missile from Vockler that went wide, but no further goals or hijinks took place. The Bombers would take their second consecutive shutout win over the Klippers in as many nights and send the series to Kindersley up 2-0.
Harmon Laser-Hume faced 27 shots and stopped them all, including some prime chances, earning his second straight shutout over the Klippers. Falk made 12 saves on 16 shots and was stuck with the loss, while Jaman made 25 saves in relief. Laser-Hume has now not given up a goal in 120:32 of ice time, going back to the last game of the regular season, and has a playoff shutout streak of 134:56 going back to last year's finals.
Elsewhere in the league, the SJHL's top four teams have held serve through the first weekend, with Melfort, Humboldt and Battlefords each winning both their first two games.
The Bombers will play Games 3 and 4 in Kindersley March 26 and 27. If needed, the Bombers will host a potential Game 5 at the Whitney Forum next Friday.
