Written by: Rory McGouran
The Humboldt Broncos are right back in the thick of their opening round series with the Flin Flon Bombers following a thrilling 3-2 double overtime victory on Tuesday night in Humboldt.
Never once understating the difficulty of the task at hand after losing both games 1 and 2 in Flin Flon, the Humboldt Broncos’ collective confidence, which to an equal regard never faltered in the slightest, remained stoic and stole Game 3 in front of a raucous EPA crowed backed by an incredible 62 save performance by netminder Dazza Mitchell.
With the performance Dazza has elevated his Save Percentage to .924, third-best in the playoffs.
The Broncos were heavily outshot in the first period with Dazza stopping all 20 shots. Humboldt was held to just 5 in the scoreless opening frame.
Two key adjustments were preached by Head Coach Brayden Klimosko prior to the game, with both revolving around special teams; stay discipline and execute on the powerplay. The Bombers had hammered the Broncos in the special teams battle in the opening pair of games, going 4/15 on the man advantage and 5/5 on the penalty kill. Tuesday’s game was an even-split of powerplay opportunities with both teams earning 4 attempts. The Broncos scored twice while Flin Flon just once.
Second period powerplay goals by Kye Benoche, his third of the post season, and Marik Mamic handed the Broncos a 2-0 lead heading into the third period. However, the Bombers, who have been to three-straight SJHL finals, tied the game with a powerplay marker by Cole Tanchuk followed by an even strength goal by Landon Alexander shortly after, both their first of the playoffs.
20-minutes of extra time solved nothing, which resulted in the first double overtime game in the 2025 SJHL playoffs. 3:44 into the 5th period, the storyline was written.
Zach Bansley who slotted back in lineup for the first time in over a month, and scored just two goal in his 17 regular season games, scored the biggest goal of his Broncos’ and potentially hockey career, taking a pass from Rylan Hue and beating Matthew Kieper on the blocker side for the game winner.
The victory forced at least a game 5 back in Flin Flon which will suffice as the first building block but nothing more than that.
Game 4 will commence tonight as the Broncos look to tie up the series.
