The Hawks celebrate Braxton Buckberger’s sixth goal of the season in a loss to the Flin Flon Bombers on Tuesday. (Clark Stork/northeastnow Staff)
Home debut

Hawks’ comeback falls short

Dec 8, 2021 | 3:20 AM

The Nipawin Hawks came close to ending their winless skid that has now reached five games giving a better effort in a 3-2 loss to Flin Flon.

Tuesday night’s Sher-Wood Division showdown was the home debut for Tad Kozun who was named the interim head coach after the organization relieved Doug Johnson of his duties Saturday morning. The post-Johnson era began on Saturday with a 5-1 loss in La Ronge.

Kozun said being behind the bench as the head man in his hometown rink for his former club felt okay.

“I felt good, it was nice to be in front of the home crowd,” he told northeastNOW after the game. “A lot of people I knew in the stands, so it makes you feel more comfortable.”

After an opening period with no scoring, the teams traded goals in the second; Mackenzie Carson opened the scoring for the visitors and Nipawin’s Braxton Buckberger replied with his sixth goal of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season.

The Bombers broke the deadlock with a power play goal early in the third period from Jacob Vockler. Matt Raymond redirected a point shot with just over six minutes left in regulation making the game 3-1. Alex Johnson scored a shorthanded goal in the final minute, but the Hawks couldn’t score the equalizer. Kozun said the players provided a better work ethic than in recent games.

“I was pretty happy with the effort tonight. We blocked shots, we were on top of guys, we did a lot of good things. Obviously coming out on the wrong end of that but we battled until the end,” he said.

Harmon Laser-Hume made 33 saves for the Hawks in goal, Cal Schell earned the win making 19 saves.

The Hawks are now off until Saturday when the team meets the Battlefords North Stars at the Centennial Arena. Kozun said the team needs to progress from Tuesday’s showing and get back in the win column.

“We need to keep building on that; we have come from a tough place. The effort we gave tonight is something to be proud of, but they need to know that we need to keep building on this because the result isn’t exactly what we wanted,” Kozun said.

clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork

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