The Flin Flon Bombers return to the Whitney Forum to host game 5 of their SJHL Quarter Final series tonight against the Estevan Bruins.
A lot has changed since the Bombers hosted game's one and two.
The series went back to Estevan for games three and four and it was two totally different hockey games.
It looked like the Bombers had things in hand with a 3 to 1 lead after two periods on Tuesday. Estevan fought back to tie it and eventually won it in over time when Owen Barrow scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first OT period.
The Bruins carried over the momentum into Wednesday and blanked the Bombers 3 to 0 and now the series is tied at two, with the best of 7 now a best of 3.
Estevan has made a few adjustments and they are getting playoff goaltending from Cam Hrdlicka who stopped all 35 Bomber shots for his first ever SJHL playoff shutout.
If Flin Flon falls short in this series they might well remember that lead that slipped away in game three.
I hate to keep talking about it, but the Bomber injury woes continue as Jaeden Mecrier who just got back got injured again on Wednesday.
Mercier went down awkwardly behind the Bruins net early in the first and never returned on Wednesday. His status is unknown for tonight but it didn't look good to me.
Jacob Vockler has also been sidelined again and the club says he is day to day.
Head Coach and GM Mike Reagan says he feels a few other players are getting close , and they can't get them back fast enough as the Bruins have been given new life.
Flin Flon was hoping to get a lot of their players back for round two, but you still have to get past round one. Estevan is beaming with confidence and know a win at the Whitney Forum tonight would put them in an outstanding position with game 6 in Estevan on Sunday.
From the Bombers standpoint, you want to get your big game players back in the line-up, but you have to be careful you don't bring them back to soon or risk losing them all together.
Flin Flon is learning that with Mercier and Vockler, who have both been sidelined after just a few games.
One thing is for sure. The Whitney will be loud and ruckus and they will not make things easy for the Bruins tonight.
Even with a pile of injuries, the crowd may be the turning point to get the Bombers the pivotal victory as they were a big part of Flin Flon's success last year and have been loud in this series as well.
The Bombers played hard down the stretch to get home ice and have the luxury of getting two of the next three games at home.
No matter what go's down don't forget to bring your radios and mobile devices to tonight's game and tell who ever can't be there to listen to 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.
We hit the air at 7:10 tonight with the SJHL Coach's Show courtesy of Great North GM, and puck drop at 7:30.
