BROOKS, AB (November 10, 2023) – Parker Lalonde tallied five points, Johnny Hicks collected his fifth shutout, and the Brooks Bandits skated to a 9-0 blanking of the Calgary Canucks on Friday at the Centennial Regional Arena.
Mirko Buttazzoni scored a hat trick, while Hicks (Kamloops, BC) won his 13th game of the season making 21 saves. The Bandits (20-3) scored three goals per period in the win and have won five straight games and won 36 consecutive games vs the Canucks dating back to November 30, 2017.
Defenceman Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) one-timed a pass from behind-the-net from forward Parker Lalonde (Aberdeen, SK) to make it 1-0 Brooks just 39 seconds into the game. Forward Mirko Buttazzoni (Langley, BC) knocked in a loose puck at 4:52 to double the lead to 2-0. Then at 9:55 Buttazzni sniped a shortside, top corner shot to triple the lead to 3-0.
Captain Nic DeGraves (Edmonton, AB) also picked the top corner of the Calgary net to open the 2nd period scoring at 2:48 to extend the lead to 4-0. Hicks came up with 15 saves in the period as the Bandits didn’t score again until the 17:40 mark, as Logan Sawyer got his own rebound off a defender and scored shortside to make it 5-0. Forward Ewan McPherson (Edmonton, AB) finished off a give and go with forward Josh Wiebe (Calgary, AB), beating goaltender Julian Molinaro, and scoring off the back crossbar to make it 6-0 at 18:56.
Just 24 seconds into the 3rd period, and with Spencer Borsos now in the Calgary net, Buttazzoni completed the hat trick, tapping in a pass from Ty Mason (Weyburn, SK), who carried the puck from end-to-end to set up the goal. Defenceman Hughie Hooker (Brandon, MB) wristed in a left circle shot at 6:41 to make it 8-0 for his first goal of the season. Lalonde put the finishing touches on the game, adding a goal at 15:27, scoring off the rush to go along with his four assists.
Final shots were 43-21 Brooks.
The Bandits are back in action on Wednesday, November 15th when they host the Canmore Eagles at the Centennial Regional Arena. Game time is 6:30 pm.