Photo Credit: Lori Bolliger / Hockey Canada Images
By James Brohm
Oakville, ON – The Sioux Lookout Bombers entered their third game of the Centennial Cup still on the hunt for their first win of the tournament. Their opponents, the Miramichi Timberwolves of the Maritime Hockey League, had a win against the coast team and loss to the Melfort Mustangs.
Miramichi was first to get on the board with a goal by Justin David at 2:44. He drove the net from the left side, froze Matthew Spencer-Dahl and swept a backhand into the net on the far side. The Bombers’ first goal of the game came at 14:42 on a play that was very familiar to Bombers fans. Nolan Palmer activated and brought the puck deep in the offensive zone. Tait Howell following up, picked up the puck on the wall and made his way to the middle of the ice. His shot went off Timberwolves goaltender Jack Flanagan but onto the stick of Alex Lucas who buried it. Miramichi regained the lead with a goal by Ludovic Dufort at 17:07. His quick shot off a faceoff win was perfectly placed under the bar. The Bombers took a 4 minute double minor high sticking penalty in the dying seconds of the opening period that would carry over into the second.
Another familiar sight for Bombers fans, Jonah Smith broke up a play in the defensive zone on the penalty kill and was off to the races. He went upstairs on Flanagan to even the score at two. His shorthanded goal was registered just 35 second into the period. The Bombers killed off the rest to the double minor. The Timberwolves would get their own shorthanded goal from Elliot Robert at 17:01. Miramichi once again took a one goal lead into the dressing room at the end of the second period.
The third period was marred by penalties against the Bombers. They found themselves on the penalty kill four more times and the Timberwolves managed to convert on two of the player advantages. Jeremy Duhamel and David Doucet scored at 9:43 and 16:28, respectively. With three minutes left in regulation, Sioux Lookout pulled out all the stops and made a big push to try and force overtime. Alex Lucas placed a hard, low shot on net on the rush and Tait Howell followed up banging in the rebound with 1:21 remaining. The Bombers pulled goaltender Spencer-Dahl for the extra attacker and generated several opportunities but were unable to cut into Miramichi’s lead any further. The Timberwolves held on for a 5-3 victory over the Bombers. Matthew Spencer-Dahl stopped 40 of 45 shots and Jack Flanagan saved 23 of 26 shots in the game. The Bombers face the Melfort Mustangs to close out the preliminary round at 11:00am CST/12:00pm EDT on Tuesday.