It was another good weekend for the Flin Flon Bombers who took both games against the Battleford Stars in which could very well be a first round playoff preview.
Flin Flon was all over the Stars on Friday winning 5 to 1 including a 3 to 0 lead after the first which saw the Bombers get 27 shots.
Keefe Gruener led the way with his 31st and 32nd of the year with singles coming from Luke Lepper (5), Leo Seitz (5) and Ryder Ringor (26).
Seth Dragon had the lone goal for the Stars.
Matthew Kieper only had to stop 17 shots to pick up the win while the Stars tandem were way busier with Justin Marik stopping 42 of 46 before making way for Connor Baumbach who stopped 24 out of 25.
Saturday's game was way tighter and the Battleford Stars came out and played a very physical game and were able to limit their mistakes. After coughing up the puck on a regular basis on Friday, the Stars were very good in their own end and did a good job cleaning up their mistakes.
Goals were tough to come by in this one , but the Bombers found a way to pick up the 3 to 1 win.
Wyatt Stinton and Anthony Campbell exchanged powerplay goals in the first and that was all the scoring til the midway point of the third period.
Bomber defenseman Luke Lepper would score the winning goal when he got a shot through from the point to beat Connor Baumbach low stick side. This was Lepper's second in as many nights and 6th of the season.
Rhett Ewen would score into the empty net late to seal it.
This was a big night for a couple of Bombers including defenseman Cole Tanchuk who suited up for his 200th career regular season game and has actually played in 241 games if you include playoffs and the Centennial Cup from a few years ago.
Bomber netminder Matthew Kieper celebrated his 20th birthday and made 26 saves for his 23rd win of the season as he continues to shine and stymie all his SJHL opponents.
Kieper has just the one regulation loss and continues to lead the league with a staggering 1.67 GAA.
After the Bombers weekend sweep of the Stars, they have sewn up second overall and now have 37 wins on the season. If the playoffs were to start today Flin Flon would meet Battleford in the first round .
The Stars continue to slug it out with the Humboldt Broncos for sixth and both teams have two games remaining in the season with Humboldt currently one point ahead .
The Bombers have three games left as they will travel to Nipawin tomorrow and close out the regular season with Laronge on the weekend in a home and home.
All three games will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.
