Two home games, two wins for the home team. The Humboldt Broncos won both games at home November 9 and 11.First, they went up against the powerhouse Flin Flon Bombers, and skated away with a hard-earned overtime win. Then they played the Nipawin Hawks and won by a larger 4-2 margin.The November 9 game was a fierce contest from the first puck drop. The Broncos managed to keep much of the play in the first half of the period in the Bombers' end of the ice. And much to the dismay of players and fans both, pinged a few shots off the posts of the Bombers' net in the first frame. At the end of the first, things were still at a stalemate, as neither team was able to score.Flin Flon got their first and only goal of the night at 4:14 of the second, scored by Cole McCraig, and assisted by Tanner Clark and David Roper. Humboldt tied things up at 16:43 of the second with a goal by team captain Taylor Johnson. Logan Sproule and Andrew Johnston got the assists. With no scoring in the third, the game went into a five-minute overtime period. The Broncos didn't need that long. Just 51 seconds in, Mathew Backhouse scored the game-winner, assisted by Ryan Marshall and Josh Roach.Penalties in the game were minimal, and power play scoring was nonexistent for both teams. The Broncos outshot the Bombers 38 to 20 over three periods.Marshall was named the first star of the game, followed by Flin Flon goaltender Andy Desautels, and Bronco Backhouse. Two nights later, the Broncos were again able to pull off a win over the visiting Nipawin Hawks. Nipawin scored first, in the last 16 seconds of the first period. They got another goal, this time on the power play, at 2:12 of the second. Humboldt finally got on the board with a power play goal of their own at 5:46 of the second, scored by Robbie Ciolfi, and assisted by Andrew Johnston and Logan Sproule. The Broncos then tied things up with a goal at 14:41, this time shorthanded, scored by Kameron Ballas and assisted by Joey Davies. In the third, Humboldt took their first lead of the game with a goal by Taylor Johnson, assisted by Cody Pettapiece and Matt Backhouse, at 2:57. They scored an insurance goal just seconds later at 3:22, thanks to Johnston, assisted by Ballas and Ciolfi.The Broncos outshot the Hawks 35 to 31, and went two for six on the power play. The Hawks were one for five. Penalties were more plentiful in this contest than the previous home game, with Humboldt getting nine and Nipawin, 10. The only major occurred at 9:14 of the third, when a fight broke out between Johnston and Adam Reichert of the Hawks. Both got five for fighting. Ballas earned the title of the first star of the game; Johnston was second, and Ciolfi, third.Deven Dubyk was in net for the Broncos in both home games.
