What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? At the Whitney Forum Saturday night, the force of the Flin Flon Bomber offence destroyed the Nipawin Hawks 6-2.
The Hawks came into Saturday's game with the strongest defence in the SJHL, having only given up seven goals in six games. The Bombers, meanwhile, had one of the SJHL's most lethal offence after scoring 27 goals in six games.
Flin Flon had an inauspicious start to the game, coming from a new face in the crease. Starting goalie Jacob Delorme was injured at the SJHL Showcase, prompting the Bombers to sign goalie Jaden Little from the B.C. junior B ranks.
New goalie or not, the Bombers opened up the taps early. Matt Flodell banged in his first goal of the year barely a minute in, while Mason Martin made it 2-0 Bombers with a cannonball of a shot from the point on a powerplay. Brandon Cianflone snuck a third goal past Hawks goalie Ethan Slobodzian seven minutes in, chasing the netminder to the Nipawin bench. Slobodzian gave up three goals on eight shots.
Eric Sorenson capitalized on a rough bounce near Little late in the period to stop the Hawks' bleeding, making it 3-1 Bombers after the first.
The tables levelled out for much of the second before turning back toward the Bombers on a late powerplay. After Flin Flon's first powerplay unit dished out some tic-tac passing, Tristan Lemyre was the toe, sliding one past new Nipawin goalie Ross Hawryluk.
The third period was all Bombers, with Donavan Houle-Villeneuve getting on the board late in the period. The SJHL's leading goalscorer got the puck in close on a powerplay and faked half the Whitney Forum out with a filthy stutter-step, firing the puck into a practically empty net.
Nipawin found the net after a sweet passing play of their own in the third, with Michael Makarenko benefitting on a rebound, but the result was well in hand. With Hawryluk on the bench and the Hawks on a 6-on-4 powerplay later, Easton Haygarth poked the puck loose and fired home an empty-netter to seal a Bomber win.
In his first Saskatchewan junior game, Little earned the win with a 20 save performance.
The Bombers are currently dominating the league's leading scorers chart, with Houle-Villeneuve and Alec Malo sitting first and second in the league with a whopping 17 points each in seven games. Houle-Villeneuve is tied with Humboldt's Tristen Shewchuk in goal scoring with nine goals in seven games. Cole Rafuse sits fourth in SJHL scoring with 13 points in seven games. The only player to interrupt the Bombers' first line in the league scoring chart is a former Bomber himself - Kindersley's Dawson McKenzie, who has 14 points through seven games.
Now finished for September, the Bombers will face both McKenzie and former Bomber bench boss Larry Wintoneak when the Kindersley Klippers come to town Oct. 4 and 5.
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