With only 5 games remaining in the SJHL regular season , the Flin Flon Bombers are back on the ice this weekend and will entertain the Battleford Norh Stars in a pair of games.
This will be their first meeting since December the 13th and 14th when Flin Flon went into Battleford and took 3 out of 4 points including a 4 to 1 win on December the 13th and a 3 to 2 OT loss on December the 14th.
Rylan Williams had the OT winner that night.
Both teams could be on a collision course to once again meet in the opening round of the playoffs with the Bombers holding down second overall and the Stars right now sitting in sixth.
Flin Flon still needs to win one of their final five games or needs Weyburn to lose one of their final five to guarantee second overall. Battleford is slugging it out with Humboldt and lead the 7th place Broncos by two points.
Both teams have four games remaining and it looks like the Stars have the easier schedule, but how Battleford does this weekend could determine where they finish.
Battleford is playing good hockey at the right time of the year and have been a little bit streaky this year but come to Flin Flon with 4 straight wins. After dropping back to back games for the first time since October, Flin Flon is fresh off a huge win against the Melfort Mustangs on Saturday.
The Stars are a very good road team at 14-10-1 and are actually better on the road than they have been at home this season. Flin Flon is 19-4-1-1 and have the second best home record in the league behind only the Melfort Mustangs.
This weekend could come down to the two goalies who are amongst the best in the entire league. The Bombers are led by Matthew Kieper who is 21-1-1-1 on the year and has the best save % in the league at .939 and GAA of 1.73.
Not to be out done is the Stars netminder Justin Maric who has been money for the Stars every night since returning from the WHL. Maric is 18-14-2-1 with a GAA of 3.24 and Save % of .909.
Maric was the difference the last time the Stars played the Bombers and was the biggest reason Battleford won the game in OT. I am looking forward to this goaltending matchup this weekend.
It is always special when these two teams meet and you can catch all the action on FLO Sports both nights and Saturday's game will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.
It all begins with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:10 and play by play for Creighton Furniture at 7:30.
