MELFORT — In their first away game of the season, the Melfort Mustangs were defeated by the Flin Flon Bombers 5-3.
After the machine smoke from the Bombers' post-game ceremony, both teams had an even first period. It was Melfort who drew first blood, with Liam McInnis sneaking a soft floater past Cal Schell with only four seconds left on the clock.
The Bombers woke up in the second, with Nathan Gagne finishing off a well-executed powerplay to tie the game. Jaxon Martens did the same moments later, firing a rebound past Melfort netminder Steven Bacovsky and giving Flin Flon the lead – a lead they'd never give up.
Xavier Lapointe got on the board midway through the third, going bar-down on Bacovsky and grabbing his first goal as a Bomber. Cole Duperreault continued the run of Bomber goals by tipping in a Lapointe point shot on a Bomber powerplay – scoring the team's third PPG of the evening
A string of late penalties threatened to derail the Bombers' progress - Curtis Hammond scored a pair of late powerplay goals late to bring Melfort to within one, but newly titled Bomber assistant captain Mason Kaspick scored an empty net goal to clinch a Flin Flon win.
Schell made 37 saves on the night, earning his first win in a Bomber sweater in nearly two years – Bacovsky wasn't as lucky, getting pelted in the second period and stopping 42 shots all around.
Both teams move to 1-1 on the season following the home-and-home.
