The Flin Flon Bombers came up with a near must-win decision in Game 3 of their first round series with Battlefords, doubling up the Stars 4-2 at the Whitney Forum, cutting the North Stars’ lead in their Best-of-Seven series to 2-1.
The Bombers jumped out to a 2-0 lead Tuesday night, just over a minute into the second period after Brett Wieschorster opened the scoring in the first period and Xavier Lapointe (1g-1a) extended the lead 1:25 into period two. That lead was short-lived as the Stars stormed back when Steven Kesslering got the Stars on the board less than two minutes later, and Holden Doell tied things up just 23 seconds apart.
Rylan Thiessen (1g-1a) put Flin Flon ahead again in the middle frame, this time for good, and Drew Kuzma (1g-1a) added some third period insurance. Cal Schell earned his first win of these playoffs making 21/23 stops, while Michael Harroch stopped 39/43 at the other end.
Game 4 goes Wednesday in Flin Flon.
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It was a second straight overtime win for the Yorkton Terriers, as Greg Nelson scored the winner 7:15 into overtime and the Terriers took Game 3 2-1 (OT), and also lead their series 2-1 over the Melfort Mustangs.
Nelson had two points on the night as he also set up Parker Jasper’s game-tying goal with 4:30 left in regulation.
The game was scoreless through two periods before Melfort’s Tye Scherger finally broke the ice with 7:31 on the clock in period three.
Kael DePape made 31/32 saves to win the game, while Mustangs’ goalie Joel Favreau made 31/33 saves. The Mustangs stay in Yorkton and look to tie the series back up again with Game 4 on Wednesday.
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The La Ronge Ice Wolves picked up their second straight win and now have a 2-1 series lead over the Humboldt Broncos, after their 4-2 victory on Tuesday.
The Broncos started strong on the road, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals from Kade Olsen and Alec Saretzky before the game was eight minutes old, but the Ice Wolves rattled off the next four unanswered.
Liam McInnis cut the deficit in half with three minutes left in the opening period, Colten Thompson tied squared it up midway through the second, and Mkyllan Couture (1g-1a) put the Ice Wolves ahead with just 8 seconds on the clock in the middle frame and Kole Christensson (1g-1a) added one more late in the third.
The Ice Wolves look for a big 3-1 series lead at the Mel Hegland Uniplex on Wednesady.
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Eric Pearce scored twice, leading the Estevan Bruins to a 6-1 win in Notre Dame, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead in their first round series.
Olivier Pouliot (1g-1a), Mitch Kohner (1g-1a), Kade Runke and Caelan Fitzpatrick also scored. For Runke, it was his third goal in as many games to kick off the post-season. The Bruins went 2/5 on the powerplay and out-shot the Hounds 40-19.
Nikolas Sombrowski provided the lone goal for the Bruins. Boston Bilous made 18/19 saves and Austin Elliott was busy at the other end, turning away 34/40 shots.
The Bruins and Hounds are the only series taking a day off between Games 3 & 4, with Game 4 going Thursday in Wilcox, the only game on Thursday night’s schedule.
