The Humboldt Broncos shoved a couple of wins into their back pocket over the weekend, as they faced the Flin Flon Bombers in the first two games of the Northern conference final. Game 1, played March 22 at the Elgar Petersen Arena in Humboldt, was a battle from start to the finish - three and a half hours later. The first minutes of the first period were action-packed, both at the net and in the penalty box. Cody Pongracz scored the first goal of the game for Humboldt at 1:05. Alex Forsberg and Joey Davies got the assists on the point. The Bombers tied the game just a minute and a half later, 12 seconds before a fight broke out between Bronco Brandon Tidy and Bomber Jason Wark. When the dust settled, Wark was out of the game, earning two minutes for checking from behind, five minutes for fighting, and a game misconduct at the 2:50 mark of the first period.Tidy got off a little easier, with two minutes for roughing and a five-minute major for dropping his gloves.Another Bomber penalty was awarded just five seconds after the fight - two minutes for tripping to Dylan Balaski. That gave the Broncos an early power play, but they weren't able to take back their lead, even with the man-advantage.Humboldt got their second goal at 7:44, scored by Davies and assisted by Forsberg. But once again, their lead was short-lived. The Bombers got their second of the night at 8:56.Despite 11 shots on the Flin Flon net, and 18 directed at Humboldt's, guarded by Matt Hrynkiw, no other goals were scored in the first period. None came in the second, either, where shots on net dropped to seven for Flin Flon and 10 for Humboldt. In the third, the Bombers got ahead by one at 5:34, and kept their lead for over 10 minutes. Finally, Logan Sproule got the Broncos' third point on a power play at 16:18, assisted by Pongracz.Tied at three, the game went into overtime. The Broncos levelled 13 shots on the Flin Flon net in that period, and Flin Flon tried nine times to get the puck past Hrynkiw, but neither team was able to do it. It was at the 11-minute mark of the second overtime period - at 11:07 p.m. - that Humboldt's Neil Landry netted the game-winner, unassisted. Landry was named first star of the game that put his team 1-0 in the series, despite having been outshot over the first periods, 52 to 48. The Broncos were one for three on the PP, while the Bombers were zero for five. After the Friday night marathon, tempers were short in Game 2 of the series, played March 23, again in Humboldt in front of a loud crowd of over 1,000. The first fight happened early once again, with Humboldt's Justin Lund dropping gloves with Riley Storzuk of the Bombers just 2:41 into the game. Both got five for fighting. Ten minutes later, another fight broke out, this time between Adam Antkowiak of the Broncos and Bomber Brody Robinson. In addition to five for fighting, Antkowiak also got two minutes for slashing.Both teams had chances to score, but netminders Devin Buffalo and Matt Hrynkiw stood on their heads to block those shots. Buffalo turned away all but one of the 17 the Broncos threw at his net in the first period. The one that got by him was courtesy of Lund, at the 18:07 mark. Neil Landry and John Lawrence got the assists.The short tempers of both teams became apparent in the last two minutes of the period, as two Broncos - Lawrence and Alex Forsberg - were sharing their side of the penalty box (one for roughing, another for slashing)with Antkowiak, who was still in, and three Bombers were shoved into their side for boarding, roughing and tripping.The penalty box saw more action in the second, as players on both teams were sent in for hooking, roughing, slashing tripping, unsportsmanlike conduct and cross-checking.It wasn't until the final 11 seconds of the period that the Broncos got their insurance goal, scored by David Miazga, and assisted by Logan Sproule and Adam Zbitniff. In the third, the Bombers seemed determined to get on the board, levelling 12 shots at Hrynkiw. One of them got past him at 14:52. But one wasn't enough. The Broncos won Game 2 by a score of 2-1, going up 2-0 in the series before heading to Flin Flon for Games 3 and 4 March 26 and 27.Hrynkiw's outstanding play - he blocked all but one of the 27 shots he faced in three periods - was awarded with first star honours; Miazga was named second, and Buffalo, third. The Broncos outshot Flin Flon 38 to 27 in Game 2. Neither team was able to score on the power play, though Humboldt got seven chances, and Flin Flon, six.
