The Cross Lake Islanders came back from being down one game to nothing to beat the Flin Flon Bombers in the first round of the Norman Regional Minor Hockey Association midget AA league playoffs at the Whitney Forum Feb. 8-10.
The Islanders, who finished the regular season in third place, nine points behind the second-place Bombers, claimed the series win with a 6-5 win in game two and an 8-6 victory in the deciding match Feb. 10. The Bombers had put themselves one win away from advancing to the league final against the Thompson King Miners by opening the series with a 7-5 win Feb. 8.
Christian Ross led the offence for the Islanders in the deciding game, scoring three times, while his teammates Julius Scribe and Deshawn Spence each recorded a pair of goals and Wilfred McLeod a single. Damon Constant and Cree Nicolas each had two goals for Flin Flon, with Blake Alexander and Chayce Busby contributing one goal apiece.Shots in the game were 51-31 for the Islanders as Shayne Price made 44 saves in a losing cause for the Bombers. Colby Moore made 12 saves for Cross Lake in 38 minutes of play while Marcus Ross stopped 13 in 22 minutes between the pipes.
Ross’s hat trick in game three was his second in as many games, as he also scored three times Feb. 9 in the Islanders 6-5 win to tie the series at one game each. Morgan McKay had a pair of goals for Cross Lake in that game while Dixon Thomas scored once.
Alexander had a hat trick for Flin Flon, with Constant and Austin McLean scoring the others. Price stopped 36 shots for the Bombers, who were outshot 42-28. Moore made 23 saves in the Islanders’ net.
Sean Yaworski led the Bombers in game one Feb. 8 with a hat trick. Alexander, Ron Campbell, Joel Huculak and McLean all had one goal. Ross scored twice for Cross Lake, as did Scribe, while Creighton Sinclair added a single tally. Fred Martin made 37 saves for Flin Flon, who outshot Cross Lake 50-42. Ross made 43 saves in a losing cause for the Islanders.
Cross Lake will face Thompson for the league title in a playoff series beginning next weekend.
