The Bombers are officially back in the postseason. The team clinched a playoff spot once again with a 4-1 home win over Estevan Saturday night.
Flin Flon picked up their second win of the weekend, sending the Bruins back on the league's longest road trip emptyhanded.
The visitors opened the scoring in the first period - following a four-car pileup in front of Bomber netminder Matt Kieper, Steven Steranka found the puck and scored, putting the black and gold up one early. Flin Flon played off their back foot for much of the first, with Estevan almost getting a second goal later in the period from Luke Hogan - the forward stole a puck away, backhanded it at Kieper and got the puck in the net, but he chopped Liam Hunks' stick in half while doing so, nixing the goal and getting him two for slashing instead.
Flin Flon pushed more as the first wore on and it finally paid off late in the frame, courtesy of rookie Leo Seitz. A point shot by Luke Lepper took a bounce in front and landed right on Seitz' tape, wide open at the side of the net - the Saskatoon native found a wide-open net and buried it to tie the game. The Bombers almost took a lead in the final minutes of the first, with Keefe Gruener taking a hit from Bruin defender Bo Doxtator that sent him into goalie Zach Shaughnessy, knocking the puck over to Ryder Ringor, who buried it - while Doxtator pushed Gruener into the netminder, Ringor's goal would not stand and the game would stay tied after 20, with the boobirds out with a vengeance. Neither Gruener or Doxtator would be assessed a penalty.
With both teams heading into the second tied at one, Estevan owned possession early, with the Bombers getting sloppy during powerplay chances, giving up shorthanded opportunities to the Bruins and failing to advance through zones. Rhett Ewen tried to give the boys a spark with a huge open-ice check on the Bruins' Kaelen Whittingham - but in doing so, he'd take a penalty for head contact. A pair of Bruins would give Ewen some shoves for his trouble, but Ewen - a night removed from bloodying up Doxtator in a Friday night fight - would head to the box with little complaint. The Bombers would be shorthanded, but get a penalty back the other way soon after.
Bomber fans got another chance to shout when Whittingham interfered with Ringor late in the second, knocking him down away from the puck - no penalty was assessed to Whittingham, but Ringor picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for hurting the officials' feelings after the play. The Bombers killed off the penalty and went on the offensive, pelting Shaughnessy with shots.
A breakthrough came in the late second period, with Carter Cormier getting on the board by tapping in a pass on the far side of the net. Cormier caught Estevan's defence napping and converted on a pass from Cole Tanchuk, giving Flin Flon the lead with less than a minute left.
Flin Flon extended the lead in the third, with Reid Arberry picking up his second goal of the weekend, coming in off the rush, getting around the defence and dangling out Shaughnessy on a partial break.
The Bombers kept the pressure up and continued to lead - while they wouldn't beat Shaughnessy again, the Bruins couldn't score while hemmed into their own zone. Finally, with the goalie pulled, the Bombers capped off the night with an empty-netter by Gruener, taking a feed from Ringor and putting it into the yawning cage with three seconds left.
Kieper made 30 saves on the night for the win, his 18th of the year - despite joining the Bombers almost two months into the season, Kieper is now third in the SJHL in wins by goalies. Shaughnessy made 39 saves in a losing cause for the Bruins.
With the win, the Bombers push ahead to 66 points - six behind first-place Melfort and six ahead of third-place Weyburn. The victory confirmed that the Bombers will not be caught by any of the four teams currently outside the SJHL playoff picture. The only non-playoff team that could statistically catch the Bombers before Saturday, La Ronge, lost and can now only achieve a maximum of 65 points - one less than the Bombers. Flin Flon will reach the playoffs for the 17th straight season.
The Bombers are back in action next weekend at the Whitney Forum, where they will host the Notre Dame Hounds Feb. 14-15.
