BROOKS, AB (February 4, 2022) – The Brooks Bandits won their 23rd straight home game and swept the season series following a 9-0 blanking of the Calgary Canucks on Friday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Goaltender Max Beckford made 21 saves for his 3rd shutout as a Bandit, as Brooks (44-5-1) haven’t lost at home since September 18.
Forward Dario Beljo opened the scoring 3:57 into the game on the powerplay, as he finished off a TJ Hughes (Mercyhurst) pass from the left side of the net, knocking in his 25th goal of the season. The Bandits went up 2-0 at 7:25 as defenceman Josh Zinger (Northern Michigan) took a pass from Ethan Lund (Niagara) and sniped a right circle shot. The Bandits tripled the lead to 3-0 at 19:11 as forward Brendan Mairs tipped in a Brendan Poshak (Northern Michigan) point shot. Brooks outshot Calgary 14-6 in the 1st.
Defenceman Wes Turner (Holy Cross) made it 4-0 at 2:13 as he cleaned up a loose puck off an Ethan O’Halloran shot that Canucks starter Noah Davis got a piece of, but left in the crease to be tapped in. Poshak increased the lead to 5-0 just nine seconds later, finishing off a saucer pass from Nic DeGraves. Defenceman Zach Bookman (Merrimack) made it 6-0 at 8:11, redirecting a puck off Connor Bertamini’s skate and into the Canucks net. Shots were 16-8 Brooks in the period.
Defenceman Boston Buckberger (Wisconsin) scored just 1:17 into the 3rd, scoring backdoor on a Bookman pass from the point to give Brooks a 7-0 lead. DeGraves scored 10:02, one-timing a behind the net pass from Noah Hackett (Niagara) to make it 8-0. Mairs got his second of the night at 11:23 on the powerplay, batting in a rebounding puck off the end boards to make it 9-0, the final. Shots were 18-7 Brooks in the period, 48-21 overall.
The Bandits host the Okotoks Oilers on Saturday, February 5 at the CRA. Game time is 7:00 pm.
Photo: Em Duncan