BROOKS, AB (April 30, 2021) – The Brooks Bandits won every game in the month of April, thanks to a 7-4 home take down of the Olds Grizzlys on Friday night at the Centennial Regional Arena, their 8th consecutive victory.
Goaltender Ethan Barwick made 24 saves, while Brooks (14-1) received goals from Tim Rego, Taylor Makar, Devin Phillips (x2), Heath Armstrong, TJ Hughes and Sean Chisholm.
Highlights presented by Days Inn & Suites Brooks:
The Grizzlys got on the board first, as forward Trenton Curtis finished off a pass from behind the net just 49 seconds into the game to make it 1-0. But Brooks would tie at the 4:18 mark as defenceman Tim Rego (Cornell) scored from the left circle on a behind the net pass from Brayden Krieger (Bowling Green) on the powerplay. The Bandits then went up 2-1 at the 6:48 mark after forward Taylor Makar (UMass) finished off a breakaway pass from Nic DeGraves, sliding a backhander underneath Olds start Tristin Martin.
The Grizzlys tied it up 2-2 at 10:53, as forward Greg Nelson finished off a two-on-none rush in a goal-filled 1st period. Brooks took back the lead at the 17:11 mark on a delayed Grizzly penalty call, as forward Devin Phillips (Holy Cross) finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Makar and TJ Hughes (Robert Morris). Shots were 15-12 Bandits in the frame.
Olds tied the game 3-3 at the 11:38 mark of the 2nd period, as forward Kaleb Kremp scored from the goal line that snuck past Barwick. But the Bandits regained the lead thanks to another goal from Phillips at 14:43 fired in a backhand shot, setup from the right circle by Hughes. Shots were 12-7 Brooks in the 2nd.
The Bandits pulled away in the 3rd period. Rookie forward Heath Armstrong scored his first AJHL goal, as he cleaned up a loose puck off a Rego shot to make it 5-3 Brooks 3:33 into the frame. Hughes made it 6-3 as he cleaned up a loose puck in front of the net thanks to a Makar carry-in up the left wing.
Olds got one back on the powerplay with 5:05 to play as Tristan Baumung grabbed a rebound and tucked it into the net to make it 6-4. But the Bandits would deny the Grizzlys any chance at a comeback as forward Sean Chisholm (Dartmouth) fired in a point shot with 1:26 to go to seal the 7-4 win. Final shots were 42-28 Bandits.
Devin Phillips joins broadcaster Nathan Crosby to discuss the game, presented by Honda Magic:
The rematch goes Saturday in Olds, with a puck drop of 5:00 pm on Real Country 105.7 FM and hockeytv.com.