The Nipawin Hawks squandered their first chance to move into the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League championships series as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Flin Flon Bombers in game five.
The Hawks got off to a slow start as they gave up a pair of first period goals and trailed 2-0 at the first intermission.
Brett Harasymuk got the Hawks back in the game with a second period power play marker but the Hawks couldn’t get any closer.
The start put the Hawks behind the eight-ball right from the start, noted Doug Johnson, the head coach.
“We just came out slow for whatever reason. We didn’t have quite the jam that they did and they played like they were down 3-1 in the series and we played like we were up 3-1 and weren’t worried about finishing it off in their rink. We gave them opportunities and they capitalized.”
The Hawks’ five-on-five play was also not very good, noted Johnson, who said they “absolutely” did not generate enough five-on-five.
Kristian Stead was solid once again in the Hawks goal as he turned aside 32 of 34 shots in a losing effort.
