The Humboldt Broncos extended their point streak to eight games on Friday night, but their winning streak came to an end as the Flin Flon Bombers defeated them 7–6 in a shootout.
With the shootout loss, Humboldt’s record drops to 13-4-0-1.
Oliver Phillips made an immediate impact in his Bronco debut, scoring on his first shift with the green and gold to give Humboldt an early lead. It didn’t take the newcomer long to add to his total; after taking a breakaway pass from Ryder Knutson, Phillips was denied on his initial shot but buried the rebound to make it 2–0.
Flin Flon cut the deficit to one, but Jeter Korte responded late in the first period with his fifth goal of the season, giving the Broncos a 3–1 lead after 20 minutes.
The second period brought a flurry of action. Owen Chapman extended the Broncos’ lead with a shorthanded goal, but just 52 seconds later, the Bombers replied on the power play. Humboldt countered quickly once again—41 seconds after that—when AJ Paulsen sent a long outlet pass to Jacob Strizzi, who scored his league-leading 17th of the season to make it 5–2.
The Bombers then made a change in goal, with Mat Bradley replacing Devin Peck. The move provided an immediate spark, as Flin Flon capitalized on a turnover behind the Humboldt net just 30 seconds later.
The third period featured another burst of scoring, with three goals in a 2:39 span—two of them from Flin Flon. After a Bombers power-play goal, they struck again 1:33 later to tie the game.
Only 56 seconds after that, the Broncos regained the lead when Strizzi’s shot produced a rebound that Connor Miller buried to put Humboldt ahead 6–5.
With their goalie pulled for an extra attacker, the Bombers tied the game with 44 seconds remaining. Overtime solved nothing, sending the game to a shootout. Joey Lies scored the lone goal, and Bradley stopped all three Humboldt shooters as Flin Flon claimed a 7–6 victory—handing the Broncos their first shootout loss of the season.
Nick Kotai made 49 saves. Phillips (2G), Paulsen (2A), Strizzi (1G-1A), Miller (1G-1A) and Korte (1G-1A) each recorded multi-point nights. The Broncos went 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Bombers finished 2-for-5.
