FORT McMURRAY, AB (January 6, 2023) – For the second straight game, the Brooks Bandits rallied for a dramatic come-from-behind win, this time erasing a 2-0 deficit and defeating the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 4-2 at Centerfire Place on Friday.
Danylo Korzhyletskyi (Kyiv, UK) began the comeback with a goal with six minutes left in the 2nd period, Heath Armstrong (Calgary, AB) tied the game in the 3rd period, Brendan Poshak (Green Bay, WI) broke the tie and Caelan Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK) sealed the win with an empty netter as the Bandits (36-3-2) have won four straight games.
Goaltender Ethan Barwick (St. Albert, AB) made 25 saves for the win.
Oil Barons forward Chad Muller opened the scoring, capitalizing on a turnover, making it 1-0 at 3:56. Fort McMurray doubled the lead at 7:36, as forward Jesse Burchart scored off the rush to make it 2-0.
Brooks was able to get one past Barons starter Andrew Ness with six minutes left in the 2nd, as forward Korzhyletskyi one-timed a Sam Court (Winnipeg, MB) left circle pass to cut the Fort McMurray lead to 2-1. In the dying seconds of the period, Poshak threw the puck at the net from the corner and thought he had scored the tying goal, but the officials said time expired before it went in.
The Bandits tied the game at 9:23, as Armstrong pounced on a rebound from a Fitzpatrick shot and found the back of the net to make it 2-2. Poshak then went end-to-end on a rush, beating Ness 1-on-0, sliding the puck underneath to make it 3-2 Bandits at 10:49. With the Oil Barons net empty, Fitzpatrick took an Aiden Fink (Calgary, AB) pass and scored on the empty net to seal the 4-2 win.
Brooks wrap up the road trip on Saturday, January 7, with a stop in Bonnyville to take on the Pontiacs. Game time is 7:00 pm, listen live on Real Country 105.7 FM.