The Flin Flon Bombers continue to find ways to win hockey games, especially at the Whitney Forum.
The Bombers suited up for just the one game last week on Saturday night and managed to double up on the very hot Yorkton Terriers 6 to 3.
Yorkton had won 13 of their last 17 games including a hard fought 7 to 5 win in Nipawin the night before.
This was the first meeting between these two teams since the beginning of November and both teams have made significant moves to their rosters since then.
Flin Flon came out and played a decent first period despite not playing a game in 7 days and hit the score sheet first.
Leo Seitz fed a beautiful pass from the corner right in front of the Yorkton net perfectly for Ryder Mucha who one timed his 13th of the season and got the fans at the Whitney Forum whipped up into a frenzy early.
This would be a highlight reel goal in any building in the country.
That was a powerplay goal and put Flin Flon up 1 to 0 after one.
The Terriers Gabriel Courchesne tied things up early in the second with a powerplay goal of his own for his 18th of the season.
Wyatt Stinton would score another highlight reel goal when he took advantage of a nice pass from new comer Colin Miller on a two on one. Courchesne came back with his second of the night just 9 seconds later and once again tied the game at two.
Maverick Deslisle answered on the powerplay when he made a couple nifty moves in front of the Yorkton net to bury his 14th of the year and made it 3 to 2 for Flin Flon going into the third.
Flin Flon carried the momentum into the third period and out shot the Terriers 12 to 6 and scored three more goals courtesy of Daniel Morozov (5), Reid Arberry (16) and Leo Seitz (9).
Morozov got the game winner early in the third when he converted a Joey Lies pass from back of the Yorkton net.
The Terriers made things interesting when new comer Tyler Palin got them within one goal after Morozov scored.
Flin Flon took over at that point and didn’t allow Yorkton any real good scoring opportunities the rest of the way.
Charlie Tritt got his first start between the pipes for the Bombers, who was one of the players that came over from the Humboldt Broncos in that blockbuster trade just prior to January the 10th.
Tritt stopped 21 out of 24 shots and was good when he had to be including a nice break away save on the Terriers Vinay Junek early in the game. If Junek scores there, who knows maybe it is a different game.
Callum Creig started for Yorkton and he suffered the loss giving up 6 goals on 30 shots, and I thought he played very well and couldn’t be faulted for any of the goals the Bombers scored.
There were no shortage of powerplays for either team which made things interesting, as these were the two best powerplay units in the league going head to head. Flin Flon finished up 2 for 7 while Yorkton was 1 for 6.
Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan commented about the number of penalties that were called in the game. “ I thought there wasn’t a lot of flow in the game because of all the penalties and I couldn’t get some guys out on the ice very often. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot when we had the five minute powerplay, and then we took a couple of penalties. I just thought there wasn’t a lot of flow and that is a strength for us when we can run one through four lines , and we are still trying to figure out with some of the new guys where everyone is going to go. It was a big win for us finding a way to win in the third period.”
Flin Flon remains perfect at the Whitney Forum and are a league best 16-0 at home this year and remain the only undefeated team at home.
The Bombers sit at 26-9-0-1, good for 53 points which has them first overall, four points up on the second place Battleford Stars. The Stars do have a game in hand.
Flin Flon will now prepare for the Estevan Bruins who make their way to Flin Flon for their only regular season visit this weekend, Friday and Saturday night January the 23rd and 24th.
The Bruins are much improved from last year and should give the Bombers a good test. Estevan is in 6th spot overall at 20-13-2-1 and beat the Bombers 4 to 2 in their only matchup back on October the 18th.
It is always a good matchup and the two teams have played each other in a lot of big games the last few years including their epic 7 game series in the SJHL final back in 2022.
