The Flin Flon Bombers picked up their third straight win at home as they held off the Nipawin Hawks 4 to 3 on Saturday night.
Flin Flon had to play catch up as they spotted the Hawks an early powerplay goal courtesy of Braxton Buchberger just over 3 minutes into the opening period.
The Bomber' s Corey King would answer with a powerplay goal of his own when he fired a nice snapsjot just under the bar to beat Damon Cunningham just 2 minutes later.
Nipawin would retake the lead early in the second period when Finley Radloff snuck a shot past Laser Hume, when he fired a shot through a crowd of players in front of the Bomber net.
Flin Flon was back on their heels but turned the game around scoring three straight goals to close out the period.
Cole Duperreault got things going with his team leading 33rd of the year converting a nice pass from Alex Von Sprecken.
Zach Kain would then re-direct a shot though Cunningham's legs for his 18th of the season on the powerplay.
The Bombers would get a big break with just over 30 seconds remaining in the second period when a puck bounced off the boards behind the Hawks net. The puck came right out front to Bomber sniper Jeremi Tremblay who made a quick move to slip the puck past Cunningham and put his team up 4 to 2 after 2.
This stood up as the game winner as Nipawin scored the only goal in the third when Joel Mabin found the back of the net for his 18th of the year on the powerplay.
The Hawks took it to the Bombers in the third out shooting them 16 to 4 but Harmon Laser Hume stood tall and made some timely saves.
It was another good goaltending battle as Damon Cunningham also made some big stops. Final shots were 40 to 35 for Nipawin.
Both teams had success on the pp with the Bombers going 2 for 5 and Nipawin was 2 for 4.
This was a huge 2 points for Flin Flon who gained ground on Laronge who lost in Melville.
The Bombers record now sits at: 27-11-2-1 and are just 2 points behind the Wolves for first in the Sherwood and second overall. Flin Flon also has a whopping 6 games in hand and will have 7 after tomorrow as the Wolves will play in Notre Dame on Monday.
I have to tip my hat to Tad Kozan and the Hawks who are vastly improved and play a very exciting game. They have some forwards that can really skate and it looks like they have two capable goaltenders.
They will not be fun to play in the playoffs.
This is a very big week for the Bombers as they hit the road for 4 games in 5 nights starting Wednesday in Yorkton. They then head to Weyburn on Thursday, Estevan Saturday and Notre Dame on Sunday.
These are all desperate hockey teams that are fighting for their playoff lives and will be anything but easy games.
This road trip will be a big factor in where the Bombers will finish this season.
Flin Flon will then return home and will face the first place Battleford Stars the following weekend. We will broadcast both these games on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.
