The Bombers' first major road trip of the season kicked off this week with a defeat in Yorkton and a return to form against the Notre Dame Hounds.
Starting one of the team's infamous four-games-in-five-nights southern swings Tuesday night, the Bombers came to Yorkton to face a red-hot Terriers club. Yorkton had won each of their first four games on the season and kept the hot streak going, riding a strong second period to beat Flin Flon 4-1.
Little of consequence happened in the first 20 minutes, but the Terriers laid it on thick in the second, scoring all four of their goals. Evan Auld opened the festivities about five minutes in, beating Kenny Marquart with a deflected shot followed by a rebound. Aiden Knutson did the same for Yorkton not long after, getting a stick on a shot from the point. Nobody but Knutson knew it went in at first, but video replay of the goal confirms it beat Marquart.
The Bombers stopped the bleeding midway through the frame, with newcomer Carter Cormier scoring his first as a Bomber on a powerplay, pouncing on a loose puck near Terrier goalie Ethan Farrow. That would be the only time a Bomber beat Farrow on the night - and the Terriers would keep on pushing late in the period.
Flin Flon got bit by the penalty bug late in the frame in controversial fashion. With five minutes to go in the second, Austin Montgomery-Parsons and Yorkton's Vinay Junek got tangled up on a Bomber rush to the net, with Junek knocking Montgomery-Parsons into Farrow, sending both players to the ice. Despite Junek pushing the Bomber into the Yorkton goalie, Montgomery-Parsons was given a goalie interference penalty on the play. Not long after, both the team's bench and forward Evin Bossel were hit with misconducts during the media timeout.
The Terriers couldn't convert on two minutes of 5-on-3 hockey, but capitalized on a tired Bomber defence, with Auld getting his second of the game with just over a minute left in the period, jumping on a rebound in front. Seven seconds later, Jaron Desnoyers continued his own red hot start, scoring his eighth goal in just five games, flicking a backhander short-side on Marquart that the Bomber goalie would likely want a do-over on.
The Yorkton onslaught would not continue into the third - with the Terriers up three, it didn't need to. The Bombers could not generate further chances and the Terriers cruised to their fifth straight win.
Two seasons ago, Farrow started his first junior season with the Bombers, along with Marquart and Harmon Laser-Hume - Farrow was deemed the odd man out that year and traded away. On the first game of the road swing, Farrow made his old team pay, making 29 saves on 30 shots for the win. Marquart stopped 26 shots in a losing effort.
Notre Dame
The Bombers found the twine enough Wednesday night to get back in the win column, handing Notre Dame a 4-2 defeat.
The Hounds opened the scoring late in the first period on a type of play Bomber fans are more used to seeing from their own team - a shorthanded goal from a powerplay miscue. This time, Marko Djordjevic stripped the puck away from Flin Flon's Luke Lepper, beat him down the ice and put a shot top corner on Massimo Urbani, giving the Hounds a 1-0 lead entering the second.
The Bombers were down one of their best players for much of the second, with Keefe Gruener getting a 10-minute misconduct early in the frame, but Flin Flon tied it up anyway. A point shot by Pierce Yakimchuk squirted through traffic, off Notre Dame goalie Spencer Borsos' glove and into the net to tie the game up. Both teams headed into period three nodded up at one.
In the third, Flin Flon took over, with Gruener, now out of the box, scoring his fifth goal of the season on the powerplay, left alone in front and shoving it home around Borsos. Moments later the Bombers extended the lead, thanks to Koen Senft and an odd bounce in the slot - a shot by Conor Ryan went off Borsos, deflected off Senft's body and into the net. Nick Beatty got the Hounds back within one midway through the third, but Ryder Ringor made it elementary with a last-minute empty-net goal, clinching the victory and putting the Hounds at 0-5 to start the year.
Urbani got his second SJHL win, this time facing many more shots than he did in his first SJHL start - 31 of them, saving 29. Borsos stopped 43 of 47 Bomber shots en route to the loss.
The Bombers got some reinforcements back into the lineup as Carter Anderson hit the ice after missing the last three games with an injury, though fellow veteran Anthony Piccininno missed his second straight game. Notre Dame also got a big veteran shot in the arm, getting defenceman Vinny Palmarin back after BCHL Victoria released him.
The Bombers' southern swing continues this weekend with a pair of games - first, Flin Flon will play Weyburn Friday night. The Wings have lost each of their first three games, but got good news Wednesday. Two forwards from last year's Wings team who'd tried their luck starting the season in other leagues, Jerome Maharaj and Jaxson Ruthven, will be back in Wings red and white. The Bombers' road trip will end in Estevan Saturday night, with the Bruins also searching for their first win of the season.
