BROOKS, AB (January 13, 2023) – The Brooks Bandits stormed out to a 6-0 lead in the 1st period, and ended up having nine different goal scorers in a 11-1 route of the Drumheller Dragons on Friday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Nearly 1,500 took in the game, which saw Sam Court (Winnipeg, MB) score five points (1g, 4a) and Ethan Barwick (St. Albert, AB) make 26 saves for the Bandits (38-3-2), who won their sixth straight game.
Prior to the game, the Bandits honoured longtime volunteer and wife of Bandits Vice-President Murray Hauck, Sharon Hauck, who recently passed away. Brooks came up firing after puck drop, as Tyler Blocha (Bonnyville, AB) got a rebound off a Brendan Poshak (Green Bay, WI) shot from the wall to make it 1-0 Brooks, just 56 seconds into the contest. The Bandits doubled their lead at 3:39, as Aiden Fink (Calgary, AB) scored on a backhander. Then on the powerplay, Bandits captain Dario Beljo (Sudbury, ON) at 4:19 hammered a behind-the-net setup from Court to make it 3-0. Defenceman Aaron Brown (Belleville, ON), playing in his first game as a Bandit since he was acquired on Tuesday, scored on a shot from the blueline for his first goal to make it 4-0 at 11:51. Defenceman Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) beat Dragons starter Garrett Fuller glove side on a wrist shot to make it 5-0 at 13:44. Liam Choquette finished the game in net for Drumheller. Blueliner Hughie Hooker made it 6-0 at 19:30, finishing off a Beljo pass while falling over.
The Bandits lead went to 7-0 at 8:37 of the 2nd period, as Fink found Beyer in the right circle, who tapped-in his second of the game. Soon after at 9:47, Court scored on a shot from the right circle to increase the lead to 8-0. Beljo scored by knocking down a Nathan Free (Calgary, AB) attempt deflected off the glass at 11:50 to make it 9-0.
Forward Danylo Korzhyletskyi got the Bandits to 10-0 at 5:41 of the 3rd period, finishing off a behind-the-net pass from Elliot Dutil (Montreal, QC). Poshal picked the top corner at 6:28 to make it 11-0. Dragons forward Ty Daneualt spoiled Barwick’s shutout bid at 9:15, scoring top shelf. Final shots were 41-27 Brooks.
Brooks hosts the Okotoks Oilers on Saturday, January 14. Game time is 7:00 pm.