OKOTOKS, AB (August 31, 2018) — An explosion of offence in the second period propelled the Brooks Bandits to a 2-0 start in pre-season play Friday night.
Brooks outshot the Okotoks Oilers 37-24 and goaltender Max Wright (Waterloo, ON) made 22 saves for a 4-2 Bandit win at Pason Centennial Arena.
After a quick start that saw the Bandits outshoot Okotoks 4-1 and successfully kill off a penalty, the Oilers Braydon Berthold batted in the puck on a net front scramble to put Brooks down by one.
The Bandits outshot the Oilers 14-13 in the frame but Berthold had the lone goal.
Brooks came out firing in the 2nd. Forward Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) only needed 12 seconds from the opening face-off to rifle a shot top shelf from the left circle to tie the game 1-1.
The Bandits got their first lead of the night off an offensive-zone faceoff win by Eric Olson (Calgary, AB) back to defenceman Corson Ceulemans (Beaumont, AB), who beat Oilers goaltender Nolan Hildebrand top shelf with under 12 minutes left in the period.
The offence wasn't done, as forward Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) sniped a goal on a breakaway to make it 3-1. Soon after, Ceulemans deked out the Oiler goaltender for a 4-1 Brooks edge.
The third period saw fewer chances for the Bandits. Wright denied Okotoks forward Carson Dyck at point blank range. Later, Oilers forward Jack Works nailed the crossbar with under 7 min to play.
Okotoks added a goal late in the third from Marc Pasemko, but that would be as close as they would get.
Pre-season action continues as the Bandits host the Oilers on Saturday, September 1 at the Centennial Regional Arena. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and tickets are just $5, available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.