No stars? No problem. Despite many of their best offensive threats being out of the lineup, the Bombers still earned a big road win over Nipawin.
Flin Flon's depth players shone in a 6-4 Tuesday night victory over their division rivals.
The Bombers' squad Tuesday night was missing most of the team's lauded offence. Leading scorer Cole Duperreault, second place Jeremi Tremblay and fifth leading scorer Jacob Vockler were all out of the lineup due to injuries they suffered during last weekend's home set against Battlefords, while Jaeden Mercier remains out of the lineup with his own injury. Forward Matt Egan and defender Cole Tanchuk would also be off the ice for the game.
With the four players out, the top scorer in the Bomber lineup would be Zach Cain, who has 44 points on the season, only 10 of which he's scored for Flin Flon.
Despite much of the team's firepower on the sidelines, the Bombers still opened up an early lead. Brent Gulenchyn, fresh off having four points in the Bombers' two games against the Stars, scored his fifth of the season with two minutes left in the first, giving Flin Flon a 1-0 lead at the break. Gulenchyn picked the pocket of a Nipawin defender in the corner, skated out front and beat the Hawks' Jackson Fellner with a backhand.
In the second, the Bombers pulled out ahead. Three minutes in, Alexi Sylvestre got around a crowd of Hawks defenders and went bar down on Fellner with a pinpoint wrist shot. Moments later on a powerplay, Noah Houle got a one-time pass on a tee from Cain and made no mistake, blowing a slapshot past Fellner.
Nipawin would get on the board midway through the period, with Francois-Xavier Bedard scoring not once but twice in quick succession to bring the home team within one. However, Flin Flon would reinstate their two-goal lead shortly after, with Houle firing home his second of the game with six minutes left in the period, this time using his wrist shot to beat Fellner through a crowd. Heading into the third, Flin Flon would lead 4-2.
The Hawks would pull back within one early in the third period, with Carson Dobson finding the twine, then the home team would tie it up on a powerplay midway through, with Dobson shovelling a loose puck past Bomber goalie Harmon Laser-Hume. Nonetheless, the Bombers would pull back ahead late, with Kylynn Olafson knocking down a point shot and Sylvestre getting his second of the night off a bounce in close.
Nipawin would pull Fellner in the last two minutes but couldn't generate offence - the Hawks would lose the zone, the puck and eventually the game, with Ethan Mercer scoring an empty-netter in the final minute to ice it.
Laser-Hume made 22 saves for the victory, while Fellner stopped only 17 shots on the night.
The Bombers pull back within two points of Humboldt for second place in the league, with 67 points to Humboldt's 69. The win also pads the Bombers' lead in the standings - both in the league and in the race for a Sherwood division title - ahead of La Ronge and Melfort, who are four and five points back having both played more games than the Bombers.
Flin Flon will play host to the Weyburn Red Wings for a pair of games at the Whitney Forum this weekend, suiting up Feb. 24-25.
