The Nipawin Hawks came out flying in an important game against the Flin Flon Bombers exploding for five first period goals en route to a 7-3 win in Flin Flon on Feb. 14 in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League action.
“We just moved the puck and we moved our feet... We came out very aggressive and kind of caught Flin Flon on their heels and it paid off for us,” said Doug Johnson, the head coach, of their first period explosion. Some puck luck also came their way, which has not been happening in the past, he said.
The Hawks wasted little time getting on the board as Josh Bly scored his 16th of the year just 52 seconds in with Michael Grant, Keegan Milligan, Grant Baetsen and Brett Harasymuk also finding the back of the net.
The Bombers answered with a goal of their own as the Hawks took a 5-1 lead into the second period.
After the Bombers scored twice in the second to make it a 5-3 game, the Hawks answered with a pair of goals of their own in the third as Bly and Milligan both scored their second of the game to put the score out of reach.
Coming into the game, Johnson noted that a couple of times in the past the Hawks had been guilty of not showing the killer instinct against the Bombers, saying he was pleased to see them show it with those two third period goals.
“You don’t want to let a strong team like Flin Flon hang around. Especially gain any momentum because teams like that are dangerous when they gain momentum. So I thought that the goal early in the third was key and it just set the tone for the rest of the period.”
The Hawks’ special teams were terrific in the game as they finished 3/6 on the power play and killed off four of five Bombers power plays.
“That was huge and even you look at the goal against on their power play it’s just one little break down, something we can easily change.”
