BROOKS, AB (October 9, 2020) – Thomas Cusson and Chris Pappas each had a pair of goals as the Brooks Bandits opened their 2020 Exhibition Series with a 5-2 win over the Okotoks Oilers Friday night at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Goaltender Ethan Barwick (St. Albert, AB) made 20 saves for the win, as Brooks is 1-0 in Exhibition play this season.
Cusson (Cowansville, QC) opened the scoring after taking a loose puck from a offensive zone faceoff and sliding it underneath Oilers netminder Parker Sawka at 16:51 of the 1st to make it 1-0 Brooks.
Okotoks tied the game at the 11:41 mark of the 2nd period, thanks to a goal from defenceman Eric Parker, who go his own rebound and redirected it into the Bandit net. But Brooks would respond, reclaiming the lead thanks to a Pappas (Toronto, ON) goal at 11:45 which saw him roof a shot from the right circle on a set up from forward Brayden Krieger (Elora, ON).
Brooks went up 3-1 moments later, as Pappas found Cusson in the slot, who shot it into the Oilers net at 12:39 on the powerplay. Less than a minute later, Bandits forward TJ Hughes (Hamilton, ON) forced an Oilers turnover at their own blue line, and passed it behind the defence to an open Pappas, who deked and scored on Sawka to make it 4-1 at 13:11.
The Oilers got one back at 11:39 of the 3rd Period thanks to a shot from the high slot from Parker once again. But Okotoks were called for back to back Checking from Behind penalties, and the Bandits capitalized on the powerplay, as forward Sean Chisholm (Caledonia, ON) cleaned up a loose puck on a Zach Bookman shot to make it 5-2, the final. Shots were 37-22 Brooks.
Series:
Oct 9th: Oilers 2 @ Bandits 5
Oct 10th: Bandits @ Oilers
Oct 16th: Bandits @ Oilers
Oct 17th: Oilers @ Bandits
Oct 23rd: Bandits @ Oilers
Oct 24th: Oilers @ Bandits
The Bandits travel to Okotoks on Saturday, Oct 10th for a rematch. Game time is at 7:00 PM, with live coverage starting at 6:45 PM on Real Country 105.7 FM, and also available on Hockey TV.