The Nipawin Hawks were in Flin Flon Tuesday night to battle the Bombers. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

Penalty problems persist

Special teams continue to hinder Hawks

Nov 24, 2021 | 12:47 PM

The Nipawin Hawks continue to give up powerplay goals which lead to a 5-1 loss in Flin Flon Tuesday.

After having one of the top penalty killing clubs in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League through the first quarter of the season Nipawin has given up 16 powerplay goals against in just six games. Tuesday at the Whitney Forum the Bombers scored three goals while on the powerplay. Head Coach Doug Johnson said the team needs to bring the same energy he saw Saturday in a 3-2 shootout loss to Humboldt, a high-scoring squad that couldn’t capitalize on the man advantage.

“The way we’re playing right now we need that effort, that type of game night in, night out for us to have a chance to win,” Johnson said on the postgame show on Saskatchewan’s New Beach Radio.

Flin Flon opened the scoring not even two minutes in, Matt Raymond beat Harmon Laser-Hume for his first goal of the season. Brett Wieschorster made the game 2-0 just three minutes later.

The Bombers extended their lead 57 seconds into the second period, Cole Vardy scored his seventh of the year. Nipawin would respond, Braxton Buckberger notched his fourth goal of the year cutting the lead to 3-1. The Hawks would build momentum from the goal but that was short lived, Xavier Lapointe and Mackenzie Carson scored making the game 5-1 before the end of the middle period. Johnson said giving up the fourth was a backbreaker.

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“We battled back, I thought we were okay halfway through the second, we got it to 3-1, we’re buzzing, they get that fourth goal on a shot I think we should have had and our team goes off the rails after that,” he added.

Nipawin failed to score on seven powerplays of their own, five of those came in the third period, three in the last five minutes.

Laser-Hume suffered the loss making 27 saves, Cal Schell earned the win stopping 25 of 26.

Nipawin now gets set for a two-game road trip to Melville and Yorkton on Friday and Saturday. Johnson said those games are critical to win in the standings and their mindsets.

“We need to win these games,” Johnson said. “Melville has one of the worst records in the league, we need to beat them. They beat us in their barn for the first time in five years, that a game we need. Then Yorkton, that’s a huge game for us, they are chasing us, we’re chasing them all depending on who wins that night. We need to create some separation.”

Nipawin has a record of nine wins, 11 losses, and three losses in a shootout. The team is tied with Yorkton for the eighth and final playoff spot with 21 points.

Friday’s game begins at 7 p.m., Saturday’s faces off at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be on Saskatchewan’s New Beach Radio beginning 15 minutes ahead of puck drop.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork