The Bombers' point streak continued in their first game of the southern swing Tuesday night - a 3-0 shutout win against Melville.
Flin Flon took an early lead and never let up, picking up their second shutout victory of the year, their sixth straight win.
Melville got into penalty trouble in the opening minute, taking both a delay of game penalty and a too many men call. With the Bombers up 5-on-3, they took full advantage - with all three Mils players stuck behind the goal line to play a loose puck, Ryder Ringor was left wide open in the high slot, getting a pass. Ringor had time to burn and snuck in front, pulled it to his backhand and beat Melville goalie Ben Laurette to open the scoring less than 90 seconds in.
The rest of the first was mostly played between the blue lines - heavy on transition play, light on chances. Flin Flon still led 1-0 after 20.
In the second, Flin Flon extended their lead, thanks once again to Ringor on special teams. With a man in the box, the Bombers generated a great chance shorthanded, with Luke Lepper and Ringor breaking in on a two-on-one. Lepper's first shot was stopped by Laurette, but Ringor managed to jam home a rebound, making it 2-0 Bombers - the two-goal lead would stay intact going into the third.
Melville's offence didn't put up much of a fight, firing just 10 shots on net through two periods, but it went straight to sleep in the third - down two goals, the Mils only put two recorded shots on goal according to the SJHL's website. The Bombers' offence wasn't exactly burning the house down either, generating just five shots, but one of those would go in - Liam Hunks scored his second as a Bomber, cutting through the Mils' defence on an end-to-end rush, then burning a wrister past Laurette. The final score would be 3-0 Flin Flon, opening the dreaded southern swing on a positive note.
Matt Kieper has done just about everything a goalie could do since joining the Bombers in late fall, going 13-0-0-1 so far - but somehow, Kieper had not yet gotten a shutout. The Winnipeg product got his first bagel of the season Wednesday after a quiet night - Kieper only had to stop 12 Melville shots to earn the shutout, the fewest he's had to face in any start this season. Laurette made 20 saves in the loss.
Flin Flon's point streak now sits at 22 games, obtaining 42 of a possible 44 points over that span. Even the first place Melfort Mustangs haven't matched that mark - despite a long winning streak, the Mustangs have only put up 40 points in their last 22, losing in regulation to both the Bombers and Battlefords.
With the win, the Bombers make up some ground on idle Melfort, but not much. The Bombers, now with 55 points on the year, are still seven points back of the first-place Mustangs. Despite that, the Bombers did pull further away from third-place Weyburn, who are now five points behind Flin Flon.
The Bombers' southern swing continues with a matchup Wednesday night against a new-look Estevan team - the Bombers will play in Drew Kocur's first game coaching the Bruins, following the firing earlier this week of Bruins coach Jason Tatarnic. After a day off, the Bombers will take on Weyburn Friday before wrapping up the swing with a Saturday night special in Wilcox against the Notre Dame Hounds.
