Anyone expecting the Flin Flon Bombers to roll over on Teddy Bear Toss Night at the Civic Centre were in for a rude surprise.
The Bombers played like grizzly bears as they delivered a first class mauling of the Battlefords North Stars by a humiliating final score of 10-1 on Saturday.
Fans hoping to toss teddy bears onto the ice in support of the Battlefords Empty Stocking Fund had to wait until late in the third period. Dylan McCabe’s goal from Elijah Loon-Stewardson and Ben Hiltz with just over six minutes left prompted a rain of teddy bears thrown from the stands.
By that point, the Bombers had already scored nine unanswered goals. In the process a parade of North Stars were sent to the penalty box all night, and the Bombers capitalized with five power play goals.
The game got particularly rough the longer it went on, with North Stars players engaging in fisticuffs with the Bombers and venting their frustrations. North Stars head coach Brayden Klimosko was visibly upset at the referees at the end of the second period over the number of penalties called.
The whole ugly display came as a shock for those used to seeing exciting winning performances by the North Stars all season. Fans had expected another good result after the North Stars beat the Bombers 3-2 the night before. Instead, what they got was the fifth North Stars defeat in six games.
As has been the case for other subpar North Stars results this season, a slow start set the tone. The Bombers held the North Stars to no shots for the first eight minutes and seven seconds of the game.
The Bombers got goals from Matt Flodell and then Easton Haygarth shorthanded from Chase Haygarth to make it 2-0 through one. The Haygarth goal came with the Bombers’ Caleb Franklin in the box for slashing.
In the second period, with Seth Summers in the box for cross checking, Tristan Lemyre scored to make it 3-0.
Goals by Jaxon Whyte and Lemyre again on a power play, brought out the hook for starting netminder Austin Schwab.
His replacement Adam Dmyterko didn’t fare any better. With Seth Summers off for roughing and slashing, and with Matthias Urbanski also sent to the penalty box for slashing, that produced a two man advantage for the Bombers. They capitalized quickly with a power play goal by Mason Martin to extend it to 6-0 through two periods.
In the third period, it was yet another two-man advantage situation with McCabe gone for roughing after the whistle and Rylan Nivon off for tripping. That produced Lemyre's third goal for the hat trick 44 seconds info the frame.
That was followed up by a goal from Cole Rafuse and another on the power play by Matt Raymond, before the North Stars finally beat Bombers netminder Jacob Delorme.
Rafuse’s goal with 49 seconds left wrapped up the scoring, and the agony. In the end the North Stars outshot Flin Flon 34-31 but Schwab only stopped 12 of 17 shots and Dmyterko 9 of 14.
The North Stars need to regroup quickly for a busy few days of action before the Christmas break. They play in Humboldt Tuesday night and return home for a rematch with the Broncos Wednesday at the Civic Centre.
