It was a very good weekend for the Flin Flon Bombers who took both games against the Battleford Stars at the Whitney Forum including a 4 to 3 OT win on Friday night.
Flin Flon jumped out 2 to 0 in the opening period on goals from Joey Lies who netted his 25th and Ryan Ulmer who picked up his 9th.
The great season for Joey Lies continues as he has a new career high in goals and has never scored more than 5 in a season and has also hit 50 points and continues to lead his team in scoring.
Kobe Sawyer would cut the deficit to 2 to 1 with a powerplay marker late in the opening frame to get the Stars on the board.
This was a great game that went back and forth and the Stars would tie it when Eric Marks was able to bang home a rebound early in the second.
The teams would continue to trade goals with Jack Martin once again putting Flin Flon in front before Kobe Sawyer would not his second of the night and 17th of the year with less than a minute remaining in the second period. Neither team could muster a goal in the third period and the two teams would have to settle it three on three.
Flin Flon looked way more confident and composed in extra time than they did the week earlier when they dropped the OT decision to the Melfort Mustangs a week ago Saturday.
The Bombers went to the attack right away and Jack Martin was able to take advantage of a beautiful Daniel Morozov pass and convert his second of the night and 16th of the season for the OT winner.
Both goalies were great with Flin Flon’s Charlie Tritt stopping 28 out of 31 and the Stars Kaeden Serpa was a little busier with 35 saves on 39 shots.
This was a huge win for Flin Flon for a few different reasons as they were able to officially clinch first place with their 38th win of the year. It was also a big bounce back game after Flin Flon suffered their first home loss of the year the week before.
I know Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan was looking for a big bounce back game and his team gave him that.
Saturday it was the Bomber penalty kill and the play of goaltender Charlie Tritt that carried Flin Flon to the 4 to 0 victory.
Reid Arberry was able to break out with a couple of goals including a powerplay marker late in the first for his 21st of the season which stood up as the game winner.
Arberry would score the only goal of the second when he capitalized on a beautiful setup from Connor Miller who won the faceoff, chased down the loose puck back of the Battleford net and fed the pass to Arberry, who finished the play with a beautiful back hand.
The Bombers got a couple of insurance goals in the third period from Jack Martin who added his third of the weekend and 17th of the season and Xavier Fauchon who picked up number 8 on the powerplay.
Charlie Tritt was absolutely fantastic and ended up turning away all 34 Battleford shots for his league leading 5th shutout of the season. This may have been the best game I have seen Tritt play who was really dialled in.
Kaeden Serpa played good for the Stars for the second straight night and couldn’t be faulted for any of the four goals he gave up on the 41 shots he faced.
The Bomber penalty kill was outstanding and kept the Stars at bay all night and killed all five Star man advantages, with the Bomber powerplay ending up 2 for 3.
Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan commented on the game winning goal by Reid Arberry on Saturday night. “ You talk about guys that are having fantastic years, Reid has been real good and you look at Lies who picked up his 50th point on Friday night . These two guys were depth players for us the last two years and it go’s to show you that if you buy in and believe and are coachable you get rewarded. Both those guys have definitely done that, very proud of them and they have been a big part of our success.”
Flin Flon will improve to a league best 39-11-2-1 and have three games remaining in the regular season.
The Bombers will host Nipawin on Tuesday night and close out the regular season this weekend against the Laronge Ice Wolves. The Laronge games should be interesting as SJHL Legend Bob Beatty is back behind the Wolves bench for the remainder of the year.
Bob has stepped in for Kevin Kaminski who took a personal leave and Beatty returns to the team that he guided to two League Championships in the mid 2000’s. It will be great to see Bob again who I am sure has some fond memories of the Whitney Forum from not only his time in Laronge but also from his time in Humboldt.
The Wolves will be in Flin Flon Friday, then the Bombers will head to Laronge for the final game on Saturday afternoon.
Playoffs will begin on Friday March the 20th and with the Bombers clinching first place on the Weekend will have home ice throughout the entire playoffs.
