SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — Heading into their final game of the Centennial Cup national junior A hockey championship, the Flin Flon Bombers knew what they had to do and what was on the line.
With Quebec’s College Francais de Longueuil having defeated Ontario’s Toronto Patriots 7-4 earlier in the day, the Bombers would need to win and win big over the Maritimes’ Truro Bearcats to have a chance of advancing to the quarter-finals.
And while they were able to get the job done in the win column, their 3-1 victory wasn’t enough to get things done in the overall picture — and as a result, Flin Flon’s storybook season has come to an end.
With three teams tied with six points at the end of the round robin, the goal differential tiebreaker went into effect. As a result, Flin Flon needed to win by five goals or more to have a chance to advance, but with their two-goal victory, Truro takes the final playoff spot out of their pool.
With the way things went in the first period, it looked as if the Bombers might be able to find the offence they needed — Reid Arberry opened scoring with 1:55 left in the frame and Ryder Knutson then made it a 2-0 contest 28 seconds later.
Flin Flon’s offence stalled there, though, and they’d go scoreless until the midway mark of the third period.
Daniel Morozov made it 3-0 with 8:35 to play in the game, giving the Bombers a shot with a late-game push, and Bombers head coach Mike Reagan would pull goaltender Charlie Tritt for the extra attacker with four minutes to play in the game.
Flin Flon wouldn’t find the scoreboard again, though, and Jake Todd scored an empty net goal for Truro to finish off scoring in the contest.
The Bombers had 36 shots on goal, Tritt finished with 18 saves for Flin Flon.
Flin Flon finishes the Centennial Cup with a 2-2 record.
Toronto (2-2) takes on the AJHL”s Canmore Eagles (3-1) in one quarter-final, the host Summerside Capitals (2-1-1) play Truro (2-2) in the other. The MJHL’s Niverville Nighthawks (4-0) and Longueuil (3-1) finished at the top of their pools and move on directly to the semifinal.
