First place overall was on the line this past weekend as the Flin Flon Bombers hooked up with their long time division rivals the Nipawin Hawks in a home and home.
Flin Flon led the Hawks by two points as they ventured down the highway to the Centennial Arena on Friday night.
The Bombers were 17-7-0-1 while the Hawks entered the weekend 16-6-1.
Things started well for the Maroon and White on Friday as Daniel Morozov picked up his third on the year on the powerplay. Morozov took advantage of a nice pass from Sam Ward to beat Gage Roberts on a nice snapshot low blocker side.
Flin Flon carried a 1 to 0 lead into the second period and it took Nipawin all of 23 seconds to tie the game when home town Captain Finley Radloff was left alone in front of the Bomber net.
This sparked the Hawks and they would score two more quick goals courtesy of Raydr Wallington and Eric Hoiness to jump out in front 3 to 1.
Leo Seitz did score a late goal for Flin Flon in the second period, and he made it a one goal game going into the third period.
The Bombers came out and dominated the Hawks in the final frame out shooting them 18 to 3 in the third period, but could not beat Gage Roberts who put on a goaltending display for the ages.
Nipawin got a couple of insurance goals from Hudson Gainer and Clayton Nesbitt to make the final 5 to 2. Roberts was the difference as Flin Flon out shot Nipawin 47 to 23 in the game which included a lot of really good scoring opportunities.
Finn Werner suffered his first loss of the year surrendering 4 goals on 22 shots, with one goal scored into the empty net.
This was just the Bombers second loss in their last 12 games.
Saturday was a new day and the Bombers returned to the friendly confines of the Whitney Forum where they were 11-0 this season.
It was the Hawks who struck first this time when veteran forward Mason Karakochuk grabbed his own rebound to beat Devin Peck who got caught deep in his net.
Nipawin took a 1 to 0 lead into the second, but the Bombers responded with a couple of goals from Landon Alexander. Alexander’s first goal was all about speed and determination, as he took the puck from Center and raced in over the Hawk blueline and got in alone on Colten Scott.
Alexander stormed the front of the net and the Hawks re-directed the puck into their own net. Flin Flon took off and Alexander scored again when he put his team ahead just three minutes later when he broke down the right side and fired a shot just underneath the cross bar.
This put the Whitney Forum into a frenzy and the Bombers once again got the home town crowd behind them.
Nipawin did answer when Karakochuk scored his second of the night when he intercepted a puck in the Bombers zone, and fired a massive slap shot past Peck, off the post and in.
Flin Flon retook the lead just 8 seconds later as the Bombers won the faceoff at center ice and rookie Keaton Lesperance jumped on a loose puck in front of the Nipawin net.
This stood up as the game winner as the Bombers took a 3 to 2 lead into the third period. They would get a couple of insurance goals from Ryan Ulmer and Reid Arberry who potted his 12th of the year into the empty net to make the final 5 to 2.
Devin Peck was back between the Bomber pipes and he was rock solid stopping 30 of 32 shots for his 11th win of the season. Colten Scott started for Nipawin and he gave up 4 goals on 41 shots with one goal scored into the empty net.
Specialty teams were big on Saturday with Flin Flon killing off all 6 Nipawin Hawk powerplays including a 5 on 3. The Bombers went 0 for 2.
A great bounce back for the Bombers who take over sole possession of first place overall improving to 18-8-0-1, good for 37 points. The Hawks drop to 17-7-1. Flin Flon is also a perfect 12-0 at the Whitney Forum and are the only undefeated team in the league at home this season.
Every win is huge as the parity in the league this season is unreal with just 7 points separating the first place Bombers and 8th place Melville Millionaires.
Another good test for Flin Flon this weekend as they hit the road, heading to Battleford to take on one of the big surprises this year the Battleford North Stars.
The Stars are no slouches despite a lot of changes from last year and are a solid 14-7-2-2, good for 6th place. This will be the first meetings of the season this weekend with games Friday and Saturday at Access Communications Centre. Both games will start at 7:30pm.
Both games will be broadcast on 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.
