The Bombers' second round series did not start how the team hoped. A slow and sloppy start led to Flin Flon taking a 3-1 loss to Weyburn.
Flin Flon's run in the league semifinal began with three darts to the heart from Weyburn's shooters and while the Bombers battled back at times, they couldn't climb out of the hole they dug early.
The Bombers started the game with an early push, but Weyburn's counterattack burned them - forcing a turnover, then a two-on-one with Liam Fitzgerald and Cyprus Smith-Davis, with Smith-Davis getting a pass near the Bomber goal and putting it up and over a sprawling Matt Kieper. Less than a minute in, a turnover and a pair of blown coverages later, Weyburn had the lead and the Whitney Forum crowd, over a thousand strong, was left silent.
Flin Flon then played a man down, with Koen Senft getting two minutes for a board on Ethan DeKay. The Bombers killed that off, then got a powerplay of their own and almost tied the game - Joey Lies had a prime chance at the side of the net, with a wide-open goal and Angelo Zol down and out, but the puck bobbled on its way to his stick and he barrelled it off the far post. Soon after, Weyburn made the Bombers pay - a bounce off the back board was gathered up by Blake Betson, who caught Kieper unaware and beat him with a quick shot in close.
The Bombers' first period was sluggish, playing like someone had replaced the team's pre-game coffee with decaf, missing passes, blowing shots wide and getting harried by Weyburn's counterattack and speed. That sluggishness came back to bite them again late in the first, courtesy of Jerome Maharaj, who snuck in past Luke Lepper, took a pass behind the D, rushed in on a partial break and dangled out Kieper, making it 3-0 Red Wings to end the first.
Flin Flon woke up to start the second, thinking they'd got on the board with a shot by Lepper from the point - the official immediately waved the goal off. While the goal judge shone the red light and the puck was clearly in the net, a referee said the puck had gone through a hole in the side of the goal. No goal for Flin Flon.
The Bombers' defence was starting to hold the Wings back, but the offence, which normally piles shots onto opponents, was quiet. Ryder Ringor took matters into his own hands, coming in on a two-on-one, keeping, firing and scoring, beating Zol with a pinpoint wrister.
Flin Flon just couldn't get consistent momentum going - a head contact penalty on Landon Alexander, coming from a hit on Jaxson Ruthven, put the Bombers down a man. They would battle back, but even with chances on the powerplay later on, Flin Flon's attack was ineffective. The Bombers outchanced the Red Wings down the stretch, but Zol held firm when he had to and the defence kept the Bombers out of high-danger areas.
That continued in the third, with the Wings killing clock whenever they could, pinning the Bombers and the puck against the boards, forcing shooters to the outside and keeping the home team off the board. The Wings thought they'd had a fourth goal midway through the third, but Kieper robbed Matt Edwards with a skate save on the goal line.
With a powerplay late, Kieper was pulled for the extra attacker, but even up six men to four, the Bombers were still skating in quicksand, losing the zone, missing shots and having chance after chance blocked by Weyburn defenders. The Wings picked up the win, going ahead in the series and putting the Bombers down one in their own rink.
Zol got the win, making 39 of 40 saves. Kieper made just 16 saves on the night, facing few shots but mostly high-danger chances.
Game 2 will go Saturday night at the Whitney Forum, with Games 3 and 4 set to take place at Crescent Point Place in Weyburn April 8 and 9.
In the other SJHL league semifinal series, the Melfort Mustangs made quick work of the Yorkton Terriers, beating them 6-1 and taking a 1-0 series lead of their own.
