CALGARY, AB (November 7, 2017) – The Brooks Bandits (15-5-1) rebounded from a 1-0 first period deficit, scoring three power play goals on ten chances to down the Calgary Canucks 5-2 at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary on Tuesday night.
The win moves the Bandits to within 1 point of first place Okotoks in the South division, but with three extra games played.
An early Bandit power play went wrong when former Bandit forward Hayden Ursulak blocked a point shot and collected the puck for a shorthanded breakaway, flipping a backhand shot past Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) to give Calgary the early lead. Benson made 30 saves total on the night for his 15th win.
In the second, the Bandits tied the game just after the expiry of a power play when Matt Cassidy (Medford, NJ) fired a wrister into the top right corner from the high slot at the 4:37 mark. Seconds later, Canucks goalie Caiden Kreitz was called for delay of game for putting a puck out of play, and the Bandit converted on the ensuing power play when Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) deflected home a Carter Wolski (Sexsmith, AB) shot to make it a 2-1 Bandit lead after 2.
Tempers began to flare minutes later when Canuck forward Andrew Marshall jumped Bandit forward Ocean Wiesblatt, getting a game ejection for an instigator and fighting penalty and putting Brooks on a five minute major power play. But the Canucks killed it off, and held the Bandits to just the one goal lead.
The Bandits began the third period on a power play due to a period-ending Braydon Jenkins boarding penalty in the second, and scored just 32 seconds into the period when Nic Hamre (Ottawa, ON) jammed in a rebound from the crease.
But less than a minute later, the Canucks were put on a power play and converted seconds in, when Dylan Williamson swept in a rebound goal of his own.
Wolski added his first goal as a Bandit on a power play point shot at the 8:12 mark, before Cale List (Petawawa, ON) finished off the scoring at 10:41, collecting a puck at the left side of the Canuck net and making a forehand-to-backhand move, tucking a shot by Kreitz for a 5-2 lead.
Matters boiled over again with just under 2 minutes left in the game when Dylan Williamson jumped Brandon Scanlin of the Bandits after a collision at the end wall. Williamson was ejected, as were Jakob LaPointe (Leduc, AB) and Cooper Johnson after tying up in a fight as well.
After more than two hours and forty minutes, the final buzzer finally sounded with the Bandits taking the first game of the season series. Brooks next hits the road to take on the Camrose Kodiaks on Friday night at 7:00 PM, with pre-game coverage starting at 6:45 PM on Real Country 105.7.