Canmore, AB (February 4, 2020) – Despite outshooting and outchancing the opposition, the Brooks Bandits came one goal short, falling 5-4 to the Canmore Eagles Tuesday night at the Rec Centre.
Bandits forward Randy Hernandez (Miami, FL) had a two goal game, while forward TJ Hughes (Hamilton, ON) scored to bring the Bandits within one of tying, only to be handed their 4th straight defeat.
After the first 15 minutes were scoreless, Canmore’s Alex Young scored on a breakaway at 15:49 to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. But a minute later, Hernandez stickhanded his way to the Eagle net, going top shelf on the powerplay to tie the game 1-1 with just over 3 minutes remaining in the frame.
Canmore took a 2-1 lead just 23 seconds into the 2nd period, as Zach Carlson beat Bandit goaltender Pierce Charleson, who made 19 saves in the loss. The Eagles then went up 3-1 at the 4:44 mark, as their captain Connor Lyons scored off a turnover.
Brooks wouldn’t go down without a fight. At the 12:10 mark, forward Sean Chisholm (Caledonia, ON) fought off a defender in front of the Canmore net and backhanded in a goal to cut the lead 3-2. Then at 13:56, Hernandez fired another past Eagle goaltender Devin Chapman to tie the game 3-3.
The 3rd period started the same as the 2nd, as Lyons scored his 3nd of the game just 40 seconds into the frame. Then at 7:45 on the powerplay, forward Michael Spafford tapped in a pass to make it 5-3 Canmore.
The Bandits got one back, as Hughes would poke one past Chapman at 10:58 to draw the visitors to within a goal. But Chapman held on, even stopping a Bradyden Krieger (Elora, ON) penalty shot to preserve the Eagle win.
Final shots were 31-24 Brooks.
The Bandits return home for two games this weekend at the Centennial Regional Arena. They host the Fort McMurray Oil Barons on Friday (Feb 7) on Honda Magic game night. The following evening they take on the Whitecourt Wolverines, presented by DD2 Oilfield Services.
Both games start at 7:00 PM, visit tickets.brooksbandits.ca for more information.