CANMORE, AB (December 30, 2017) – Rookie forward Louis Jamernik (Calgary, AB) had his first multi-goal game as a Brooks Bandit, as the team extended its win streak to 10 and its overall record to 26-10-1, with a 5-1 road victory over the Canmore Eagles (17-18-2) on Saturday night.
The Bandits went 5 for 6 on the penalty kill and 0 for 3 on the power play, yet despite the special teams disadvantage still outshot the Eagles 37-33 on the night, with Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) making 32 saves for his tenth consecutive win as well.
Despite outshooting the Eagles 19-12 in the first period, the Bandits found themselves in a scoreless deadlock after twenty minutes. Canmore had the shot lead in the 2nd, 13-11, but the Bandits took advantage with three quick goals in the span of less than three and a half minutes.
First, Jamernik poked a puck loose at the left circle and fired a quick low wrister by Eagle goalie Logan Dyck to open the scoring at 12:09. Just over 2 minutes later, after a wraparound try by Ryan Mahshie (Stoney Creek, ON) was stopped by Dyck’s pad, the rebound popped to Jamernik in the slot for a one-timer goal and a 2-0 lead. Before the period was out, Nolan Thompson (Calgary, AB) capped off the scoring with a backhand flip on a breakaway to make it a 3-0 game.
In the third, the Bandits made it 4-0 on a 4-on-4 sequence when Luke Bast fired a pass across the slot for Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) to hammer home for his team-leading 18th of the year, before the Eagles got one back on a deflected power play point shot by Travis Verveda at the 14:46 mark. In the final minute, Nic Hamre (Ottawa, ON) set up Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) for a wrist shot from the slot that beat Dyck to notch the 5-1 final score.
The Bandits and Eagles will meet again in a rematch on Monday afternoon at the CRA in Brooks for a special New Year’s Day game with a 4 o’clock puck drop. The game will feature the return of veteran Bandit defenceman Shane Bear (Calgary, AB) and also feature the team’s annual Cash Raffle Early Bird Draw for $5,000 in the second intermission. Tickets for the game, and Cash Raffle, are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.