BROOKS, AB (November 15, 2023) – Parker Lalonde and Mirko Buttazzoni had big nights offensively, while Brendan Holahan starred in net with 26 saves as the Brooks Bandits downed the Canmore Eagles 7-1 on Wednesday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
It was the Bandits (21-3) sixth straight win, as they are now 12-0 at home this season. It was also a penalty-filled game, with Brooks going 2/10 on the powerplay and 11/12 on the penalty kill despite Canmore spoiling the shutout bid with 13 seconds remaining. Holahan (New Canaan, CT) is 8-0 this season when starting.
The Bandits successfully killed off three straight penalties to begin the game, and were rewarded at 15:34 of the 1st period. Defenceman Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) carried the puck behind the Canmore net and set up forward Davide Patella (Laval, QC) in front, who tapped in his second of the season to make it 1-0. The Bandits doubled the lead to 2-0 on the powerplay at 19:05, as forward Ty Mason (Weyburn, SK) blasted a Nic DeGraves (Edmonton, AB) pass from the left circle.
Lalonde (Aberdeen, SK) tripled the lead to 3-0 at 4:02 of the 2nd period, as he sniped off the rush on a Buttazzoni pass. Then at 10:14, Buttazzoni (Langley, BC) finished off a Logan Sawyer (Calgary, AB) pass from the goal line to give Brooks a 4-0 advantage.
Lalonde opened the 3rd period scoring at 5:10, as he wristed a shot off the rush to make it 5-0. Not long after, forward Caelan Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK) received a stretch pass and scored forehand on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 6-0 at 6:44. It was his second shorthanded goal of the season. Forward Nathan Free (Calgary, AB) extended his goal streak to five games after sniping a right circle shot on the powerplay to make it 7-0. Canmore’s Carter Coutu spoiled Holahan’s shutout with 13 seconds remaining, tapping in a powerplay goal.
Final shots were 45-27 Brooks, while 148 penalty minutes were handed out.
The Bandits return to action this weekend as they head north for two games. It starts Saturday, November 18th, with a 7:00 pm puck drop vs the Saints in Spruce Grove, followed by a 2:00 pm start in Drayton Valley on Sunday, November 19th vs the Thunder. Listen to both games on Real Country 105.7 FM.