After a tough road trip, Simon Hofley bounced back at the Whitney Forum last night stopping all 31 shots he faced for his second shut out of the season. Hofley had good rebound control and did not have to face a lot of second and third shots last night as the Bombers blanked Battleford 4-0.

 

Hofley commented on his play after last night and really credits his team mates for their play in front of him."Personally it was huge for me, I really needed that especially so close to playoffs,  and as a team we really needed that to tie Nipawin for second place. I received a lot of help from my team mates, didn't really have to make a lot of big saves , just had to do my job and be solid and it was an easy shut out."

 

Chris Rauckman picked up his league leading 33rd goal of the season on the power play early in the first period which stood up as the game winner. Other Bomber goal scorers were: Knaub (7), Evans-Campbell(10) and Calladine(14). Flin Flon outshot Battleford 39-31 to pick up their 25th victory of the season.

 

This is a big win for the Bombers who are now tied with Nipawin for second in the Sherwood and fourth overall with 62 points. The Bombers and Hawks will play 3 more times including a home and home next weekend. Flin Flon also moves up 2 points on Notre Dame.

 

Mike Reagan was happy with last night's effort. " We were in control most of the night and they have a real hard working team which is physical and our guys were able to capitalize on some oppurtunities. We got some bounces tonight which are always nice , and this was a big bounce back game for Simon Hofley who did struggle on the road and he knows that. We needed him to have a big effort tonight and he did that picking up his second shut out of the season."

 

The Bombers have the best record in the Sherwood Division since Christmas at 8-3-2 and are a perfect 6-0 at home in 2015. Next up is the Melville Millionaires who come to town on Friday for Hudbay Hockey Night In Flin Flon. Hudbay has picked up the entire tab and everybody will get into the game ABSOLUTELY FREE.

 

The Bombers lead the season series 2 games to none and are 10-1-1-1 against the Viterra Division this year.

 

 

Here is last night's scoring summary

 

Flin Flon Scoring
1. Rauckman, (33) (Boehm, Allison), 2:07 (PP)
2. Knaub, (7) (Lacoursiere, Smith), 9:27
2. Evans-Campbell, (10) (Empey, Kocur), 9:49
3. Calladine, (14) (Boehm, Smith), 12:19 (PP)