The Bombers are two-nil up on Battlefords, handing the Stars a 6-2 loss in Game 2.
Flin Flon earned their second win in as many nights, pushing past two even periods of hockey to run away in the third and send the series back to Battlefords two wins up.
Captain Justin Lies got the Bombers on the board less than five minutes in, snaking into the zone and putting a long wrist shot past Stars netminder Logan Cunningham and into the net. The Stars nearly got on the board when Alex Izyk dangled his way from the point through the offensive zone, almost beating Harmon Laser-Hume - but Flin Flon's goalie of the year stuck his foot out just enough to make a save with his skate blade.
Midway through the frame, a four-on-four came up after a pair of penalties and Flin Flon dominated possession, eventually paying off - a set-up near the net by Riley Niven gave Anthony Piccininno a shot in the slot that got through a crowd and past Cunningham, making it 2-0 Bombers after 20 minutes. The Bombers would keep that lead for the rest of the hockey game.
The Stars did get on the board in the second, with Ben Portner getting his third goal of the weekend on a wrister through traffic. Battlefords had momentum early in the second - until one play by the Bombers stole it clean away.
Anthony Bax was the culprit, coming in off the sidewall in the Stars' zone and firing a shot that had eyes through traffic, once again fooling Cunningham and restoring Flin Flon's two goal lead. Battlefords battled back later in the frame, refusing to go away quietly and leading to a second Stars goal - this time, by league MVP Kian Bell, who caught a Bomber clearing attempt off his stick, jumping it up into the air and past an unsuspecting Laser-Hume, who didn't see it come back toward the net. The Stars entered the third period down by one, but with late momentum.
Once again, the Bombers snuffed that momentum out with what proved to be the turning point of the game - Stars veteran forward Evan Waldie caught Kylynn Olafson with a knee-on-knee hit, earning him a double-minor penalty and the Bombers with a pair of concurrent powerplays at a critical juncture of the game.
The Bombers took full advantage of Waldie's mistake, with Adam McNutt blasting home a one-timer through traffic that Cunningham likely never saw until the horn went off - and since the penalty was a double-minor, the Bombers still had two full minutes of powerplay action to play with. The Bombers didn't convert, almost doing so on a Lies one-timer that the captain didn't get full power on, stopped by Cunningham.
While the Bombers didn't get two powerplay goals, the Stars were on their heels. Getting Bradley Blake back on the ice, who played sparingly since blocking a shot off his ankle in the second, surely boosted the team's morale, but the Stars could not convert. The Bombers put it out of reach late in the game with Tyson Smith getting his first playoff goal in a Bomber sweater, getting a feed from Niven and capitalizing.
Down three goals late, the Stars pulled Cunningham with just under four minutes to go, but could not generate many chances with the man advantage. Olafson got the puck following a Stars turnover and skated the puck down toward the empty net, but took his foot off the gas pedal just long enough for Portner to race back and poke check the puck away, inches from the goal line. Olafson skated back to the bench with his head hanging low, but the Bombers would still score on the empty net anyway - Keefe Gruener did the job with a minute to go, ending things the way the maroon and white wanted most.
Joey Lies and Treycen Wuttunee almost got into a fight following the final whistle, doffing their gloves and helmets, but the officials jumped into the middle to keep them apart, with the Bombers mobbing Laser-Hume and celebrating their sixth-straight playoff win. Lies and Bax would each get last-minute misconducts, along with Wuttunee and Waldie.
Laser-Hume stopped 32 shots on the night, while Cunningham stopped 41 shots in the Stars' net.
Games 3 and 4 of the series will be played at North Battlefords' Access Communications Centre April 8 and 9, with Game 5 - if needed - coming back to Flin Flon April 12.
The other semifinal series in the SJHL is also a 2-0 matchup, with Melfort beating Humboldt in Game 2. The Broncos held a 3-1 lead until late in the second, then two big goals by Ryan Duguay tied the game and pulled the Mustangs ahead. Their series will continue later next week, with Game 3 in Humboldt April 9 and Game 4 April 10.
