YORKTON - The Flin Flon Bombers are the top team in the SJHL with 42 points, roughly double of any team in the league’s Viterra Division, but they didn’t exactly dominate on a three-game swing south on the weekend.
Friday they fell behind 3-0 in Yorkton, but then battled back to win 4-3.
In Melville Saturday the Bombers lost, but it was in overtime 2-1.
And then Sunday back at the Westland Insurance Arena in Yorkton the Terriers again jumped out to an early lead 2-0 this time.
Clay Sleeva scored 27 seconds into the game, and Aiden Knutson added a powerplay marker at 8:54.
Noah Houle cut the lead in half before the end of the first period with a powerplay goal at 15:23.
The powerplay would be the Terrier’s Achille’s Heel Sunday as the Bombers scored two man advantage markers to pull ahead 3-2 through 40-minutes.
Liam Bridger struck at 5:49, and Houle with his second of the contest at 13:05.
The Bombers added a fourth goal at 19:39 of the third period when Justin Lies scored his 19th of the season into an empty net.
Adam Kelly was in the Terrier net for the loss facing 34 shots, while Harmon Laser-Hume took the win facing 23 shots in the Flin Flon net.
Terrier head coach Emery Olauson said there probably weren’t many expecting the Terriers to even keep it close with the league-leading Bombers, “but we definitely thought we were making progress.
“We are getting close. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but we can build some confidence (out of weekend).”
The key was early goals.
“The great starts were definitely essential for us to keep it close,” said Olauson.
The Terrier coach said there remains things to work on too. In particular the penalty kill was not effective versus the Bombers. He noted Flin Flon has scored about 25 per cent of their goals this season with a man advantage. On the weekend against the Terriers it was the source of 50 per cent of the Bomber goals.
Still, overall Olauson saw good things in the two losses.
“But it’s coming together. It is a work in progress. . . I get the sense we’re making up ground,” he reiterated.
The Terriers host Nipawin Tuesday, then head to Flin Flon for action Friday and then to LaRonge for a contest Saturday.
