OKOTOKS, AB (October 16, 2020) ? Another wild game at PasonCentennial Arena, and once again, the Brooks Bandits pulled out an overtimevictory.
Defenceman Corson Ceulemans (Beaumont, AB) scored the overtime winner on his own rebound to give Brooks a 6-5 victory Friday night in Okotoks. Bandits goaltender Ethan Barwick (St. Albert, AB) made 27 saves for the win. It?s the Bandits 3rd straight win over Okotoks in the 6 game Exhibition series, and 2nd straight in overtime.
Brooks got on the scoreboard first, as forward Thomas Cusson (Cowansville, QC) scored from the left circle (3:23) to make it 1-0 Brooks. But just 12 seconds later, Oilers forward Rieger Lorenz finished off a Gibb Coady pass to tie the game 1-1, which remained the score for the rest of the 1st.
Bandits forward Chris Pappas (Toronto, ON) was awarded a penalty shot, but was denied on a save by Oilers goaltender Taylor Gauthier. The 2nd period was scoreless through the opening 12 minutes, but that changed thanks to back to back Bandit goals. First, forward Devin Phillips (Raleigh, NC) scored a powerplay goal (12:43) on a rebound left in front of Gauthier. Then, Cusson got his 2nd of the night (14:20), finishing off a Ceulemans 2-on-0 pass to make it 3-1 Bandits. The 2nd period saw Brooks outshoot Okotoks 14-8, but the Oilers scored with 59 seconds left in the frame thanks to Zane Kindrachuk finding a loose puck off a Barwick save.
The Bandits got their two-goal lead back quickly in the 3rd period, thanks to a Dominick Campione (Kohler, WI) shot from the blueline (1:58) that found the back of the net to make it 4-2. It wouldn?t be until the final 4 minutes of regulation when a flurry of goals forced overtime. First, Oilers forward Brayden Morrison scored (16:00) to make it 4-3, followed immediately by a Sean Chisholm (Caledonia, ON) backhander that went top shelf (16:48) to give Brooks a 5-3 lead. With just over two minutes remaining, Oilers defenceman Eric Parker scored on a point shot to cut the led to 5-4, and with 22 seconds left, defenceman Seth Bernard-Docker scored on another screened shot to tie the game 5-5.
After the Bandits sustained the first two minutes of the extra frame, Ceulemans carred the puck up the left wing, shot it from the left circle and collected his own rebound and wasn?t denied on his 2nd attempt, giving Brooks the 6-5 win. Final shots were 44-32 Bandits.
Series:
Bandits lead 3 games to none
Oct 9th: Oilers 2 @ Bandits 5
Oct10th: Bandits 4 @ Oilers 3 OT
Oct 16th: Bandits 6@ Oilers 5 OT
Oct 17th: Oilers @ Bandits
Oct 23rd: Bandits @ Oilers
Oct 24th: Oilers @ Bandits
The Bandits and Oilers will meet again on Saturday, October 17th, but the scene shifts to the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks. The game is sold out due to government regulations, but will be broadcast live on Real Country 105.7 FM and Hockey TV.
Photo credit: Bryan Wilson