It was tough sledding for a young Bomber squad who dropped a 5-1 decision to a veteran Nipawin Hawks team on Friday night at the Centennial Arena.

 

The Bombers looked pretty good for the first 5 minutes before Tyler Nyman took a 5 minute major boarding penalty which changed the complection of the game.

 

It took the Hawks only 29 seconds to strike on the mad advantage when Chad McCartney opened up the scoring when he took a nice pass from Brandon Arnold.

 

Arnold and Grant would both score break away goals  to put Nipawin in control 3-0 after 1.

 

Nik Anderson started in goal for Flin Flon and was pulled after the first when he gave up 3 goals on 9 shots, although I didn't think any of the goals were his fault.

 

Reese Jones came in to the game in the second and looked very good for limited action this season and only gave up 2 goals on 25 shots.

 

Grant Baetsen would score an early third period goal for his second of the year to put the Hawks up 4-0 before the Bombers would finally answer.

 

Rookie sensation Ethan Daniels banked a puck off the back of Declan Hobbs's skate for the Bomber's only goal of the game to make it a bit closer at 4-1.

 

The Hawks kept coming and Michael Grant scored his second of the game to seel the deal at 5-1.

 

Shots were very much in the Nipawin's favor at 34-17, and the Bombers really didn't test Hobbs much, with most of their shots coming from the perimeter.

 

Flin Flon's road woes continue and are now just 1-8-0-1 away from the Whitney Forum. Overall they slip to 7-10-1-3 and now trail the Hawks by 11 points for second in the division. Nipawin is 13-5-1-2. The Bombers will face the Hawks two more times before Christmas.

 

Some good news as Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan expects three regulars back in the lineup with McCausland, Newton and Jackson all expected to play Friday against Estevan.

 

102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com will have the call of this game with the Great North GM Coach's Show at 7:15 and drop of the puck at 7:30.