The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A weekend split against the Battlefords' North Stars gave the Flin Flon Bombers their 11th win of the season, something they haven't been able to do since the 2000-01 season. After losing a tough battle on Friday night, a good penalty killing unit and solid team defence from the goaltender out gave the Bombers the victory on Saturday night. The North Stars beat the Bombers 5-2 in the first game of the double-header. Steve Makway and Adam Houle both had power-play goals for the North Stars in the first period Makway's goal came at 12:06, and Houle netted his first of the season at 13:28. Anatoliy Moshkovsky scored at 1:59 to bring the Bombers within one goal. Joey Moggach and Simon McCusker picked up the assists for Flin Flon. The turning point of the game for the North Stars was Jesse Gulbraa's short handed goal at 3:52 to make it 3-1. Brent Gardipy made it a 4-1 game with a power-play goal at 18:13, giving the North Stars two goals on just five shots in the second period. Houle's second goal of the game at 14:20 of the third period added to the damage. The Bombers managed a goal from Clayton Geiger at 18:51 on a powerplay after Dylan Wiltermuth attacked a Flin Flon player and was handed 17 minutes in penalties. Joey Moggach and Simon McCusker again picked up the assists. Flin Flon's power play was 1/9 on the evening, while Battleford scored three power-play goals on seven chances and added a short handed marker. Shots were even at 25-25. Francois Laverdrere made 20 saves in a losing cause, while Justin Pesony stopped 23 shots for the win. Goaltending and special teams were the difference on Saturday night, as the Bombers edged the North Stars 4-3, despite being out shot 48-27. Two new goaltenders got the call on Saturday, as Brent Walker started for Battleford and Paul Reimer for Flin Flon. The North Stars held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before Flin Flon's power play started to click. Jesse Gulbraa scored at 5:24 and Brock Acorn made it 2-0 for the Stars at 11:55. Shots on net were recorded as 23-9 in favour of the North Stars. Captain Derek Blais got the Bombers on the board at 1:59 of the second period, with Joey Moggach and Jeff LaPointe assisting. Dylan Wintermuth restored Battlefords' two goal lead at 5:13, but a pair of power-play goals tied the game for Flin Flon before the end of the period. Andrew Skrabek picked up his 19th goal of the season at 7:31 from Jeff LaPointe, and Blais popped his second of the game at 9:15 from Anatoliy Moshkovsky and Simon McCusker. Clayton Geiger's third goal in as many games proved to be the game winner, as he beat Walker at 4:50 of the third period. Joey Moggach picked up his fourth assist in two games on the goal. Moggach is now one point behind Melville's Neil Kodman for top scoring rookie. Flin Flon's goaltending and penalty killers were put to the test in the third period, as the Stars were handed two five-on-three advantages. Battlefords' efforts were fruitless, as Flin Flon held on to earn their third road win of the season. The Bombers scored two power-play goals on 11 chances, while keeping the North Stars scoreless on eight tries. The split leaves the Bombers nine points out of fourth spot in the Dodge Conference, and 11 points behind fourth place in the Sherwood Conference, with 14 games remaining. Flin Flon was in Humboldt last night to try and turn their victory into a streak. Results were unavailable at press time.
