The fourth tilt of the series would be a night and day difference from game three, one that saw the Bombers fill the net in the opening period, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. They wouldn’t look back, going on to defeat the North Stars 5-2.
“They caught us standing still and back on our heels,” Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said after the game. “We didn’t respond quick enough.”
The start didn’t go as planned as Curtis Roach gave the Flin Flon Bombers an early 1-0 advantage. After going a full 60 minutes without finding the back of the net a night ago, Roach fired a shot from the blue line, beating Tyler Fuhr just a minute into the tilt, through the five-hole. The Bombers came out strong and made it apparent that game four would be no cake walk.
Minutes later it was Baxter Kanter and Rory Davidson going the length of the ice shorthanded on a two-on-one. Kanter made a crisp go-ahead feed to Davidson to spring him for a breakaway but Zac Robidoux was equal to the task with a tremendous pad save.
In transition, the Bombers took a two-goal advantage, scoring on the power play. After a fearless shot block, the puck found its way onto the stick of Rylee Zimmer who deposited it into the back of the net for his first of the playoffs. Jason Lavallee drew the assist.
The roles completely reversed at the Whitney Forum as Roach registered his second point, finding Alex Smith on the power play for his fourth goal of the postseason.
The North Stars had some work to do, heading into the first intermission down 3-0, while being outshot 24-5.
In the middle frame, the Bombers kept pouring it on. Roach scored his second of the game and tallied his third point of the night. After corralling a pass from Smith, Roach rifled a shot through traffic, beating Fuhr, who couldn’t pick up the puck. 4-0. The goal was their third straight power play mark. Ryan Rewerts came in to relieve Fuhr of his duties.
The North Stars answered back on a man advantage goal for themselves. Coby Downs and Connor Sych played pitch and catch before finding Layne Young in the slot. Young was able to snipe a shot over the glove of Robidoux for his sixth of the playoffs, breathing life into the Battlefords bench.
The momentum would be short lived, as the Bombers beat Rewerts on a shorthanded goal by Greyson Reitmeier three minutes later. Slicing down the ice, Smith found Reitmeier in a quality scoring area, beating the North Stars netminder to restore the four-goal advantage. With the assist, Smith tallied his third point of the tilt.
Ryan Rosenberg and the North Stars frantically tried to get back in the game, hitting the back of the net, but not before it was taken off of its pegs. There was also some deliberation later on in the period as whether or not a puck crossed the line. One official signaled a goal for the Battlefords but after a conversation, the goal was waved off. A much better second period was all for none as the black and white still trailed 5-1 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Igor Leonenko then ended his four-game goal drought, making a nice move at centre before carrying the puck into the offensive zone and ripping a shot past Robidoux. Young found the streaking forward while moving into Bombers territory, drawing the assist on Leonenko’s seventh goal of the postseason.
With three minutes remaining, the North Stars had another goal waved off after jamming a loose puck into the back of the net. The official had whistled the play dead after losing track of where the puck was. That was as close as the black and white would get, taking the 5-2 loss while being outshot 50-39.
It’s no secret this was not the North Stars game from the opening puck drop to the final whistle. Pucks that crossed the goal line were waved off, and an uncharacteristic off night from the penalty kill ultimately did the team in. This being said, the season is far from over. The fourth win is always the toughest to get, and it will be harder in front of a home crowd.
The season now shifts to do-or-die mode this Saturday at the Civic Centre. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. and we’ll see you then.
