The Flin Flon Bombers took care of business at the Whitney Forum this past weekend and are up two games to none in their SJHL Quarter Final Series against the Estevan Bruins.

 

On Friday, the Bombers fed off the crowd and came out hard and scored three quick goals before the game was even ten minutes old.

 

It took just over three minutes for Flin Flon to find the back of the net when Sam Ward collected his first ever SJHL playoff goal. Ward fired a puck from the blue line that beat Dylan Adams  up high over his right shoulder to electrify the fans in attendance.

 

That ended up being all the offense that the Bombers would need as they ended up shutting out the Bruins 5 to 0.

 

Rhett Ewen and Daniel Morozov also found the back of the net in the opening period as the Bombers would jump out to a  3 to 0 lead after the first period.

 

Sam Ward would end up picking up his second of the night on the powerplay to put the Bombers up 4 to 0 after two. Reid  Arberry scored his first of the playoffs for a little extra insurance in the third period to cap the score at 5 to 0.

 

The SJHL Goalie Of The Year, Charlie Tritt got the start and picked up his first ever SJHL Playoff shutout with 17 saves. Charlie wasn’t very busy but was there,  anytime they needed a big save.

 

Bruins netminder Dylan Adams was far busier and ended up making 40 saves on 45 shots.

 

Specialty teams were a big part of the story with the Bombers going 2 for 4 on the man advantage while killing all 4 Bruin powerplays. Estevan didn’t get a single shot their first two powerplays and just couldn’t get in sync.

 

I knew the Bruins would be a lot better on Saturday night and they were. They made a lot of adjustments and didn’t give the Bombers nearly as much room to maneuver like they did the night before.

 

Saying that, Flin Flon still scored the first goal when Ryan Ulmer was able to fire a shot out of the corner that beat a screened Nathan Kam who gat the start in game two. I was a little surprised that Bruins Head Coach and GM, Drew Kocur made the change as I thought Adams played very well the night before.

 

As the night went on I realized why he did it.

 

Estevan answered the opening goal by Ulmer when Bruins defenseman Matthew Ronn got in alone on Charlie Tritt and beat him five hole to make it 1 to 1 after one.

 

The teams would trade goals in the second period with Daniel Morozov scoring his second in as many nights for the Bombers with Caleb Porter answering for Estevan.

 

Tied at two, it looked like Flin Flon was going to be able to end the game in regulation when Rhett Ewen scored his second of the playoffs on a nice wrap around from behind the Estevan net  early in the third period.

 

The Bombers really came out hard in the third out shooting the Bruins 22 to 14 and were just over a minute away from ending the game. With the goalie pulled and the extra attacker on the ice, former Bomber Ethan Andrews fired a puck from the blueline that re-directed off someone in front of the net to tie the game at three with 1:05 remaining in regulation.

 

The Whitney Forum crowd was stunned and Estevan got the game to OT, and were now only a goal away from a big upset and taking away home ice advantage.

 

The first OT settled nothing despite the Bombers out shooting the Bruins 14 to 5 including a couple of goal posts. Flin Flon kept coming and ended it early in the second overtime,  when Maverick Deslilse re-directed a Reid Arberry shot that went top shelf on Estevan goaltender Nathan Kam  to the delight of the thousand plus in attendance at the Whitney Forum.

 

I thought the roof was going to come off the place as it was one of the greatest ovations I have ever heard, and certainly one of the loudest. Flin Flon picked up the 4 to 3 win Double OT, despite one of the best goaltending displays I have ever seen from Nathan Kam.

 

Kam stopped 61 out of 65 shots and almost stole this one for his team with a lot of spectacular saves including many in the third period and the first overtime.

 

Charlie Tritt, the Bomber netminder was also very good and he made the save of the year in the first OT, when Bruins forward Carter Onrait had an open net to shoot at, but Tritt dove in the air and some how made the save to the delight of the home town crowd.

 

Flin Flon not only won the game but kept home ice advantage and are up two games to none in the SJHL Quarter Final with the series headed to Estevan for games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

Puck drop both nights will be 8pm Manitoba time and will be broadcast on FLO TV and 102.9 CFAR and flinflononline.com.