SHERWOOD PARK, AB (February 26, 2016) – The Brooks Bandits’ winless streak in Sherwood Park continued on Friday night, as the team’s 11-game win streak was snapped with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Crusaders.
The Bandits have not won a game in Sherwood Park since December of 2006. The loss nonetheless still leaves the team just 4 points behind Spruce Grove for first overall in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) with 2 games in hand.
The Bandits opened the scoring at the 12:29 mark when captain Derek Lodermeier (Brooklyn Center, MN), fired in a wrist shot from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush, beating goaltender Zac Klassen for the early lead. But the Crusaders struck twice before the first period was over, despite being outshot 12-7. First, Brett Van Os one-timed a puck in from the left circle on the rush, then with just 1.8 seconds showing on the clock, the Crusaders won a puck battle in the left wing corner and flung a puck to the high slot for Joel Webb, whose one-time shot from the ringette line beat Garret Hughson (Foremost, AB) to make it 2-1 Sherwood Park.
The Bandits outshot the Crusaders 9-4 in the second, but the game remained scoreless, with the tying goal not coming until the 12:33 mark when the newly-named AJHL Rookie of the Year Cale Makar shot a wrister past Klassen from the top of the Crusader crease to make it 2-2.
But Sherwood Park replied just over three minutes later when a long point shot skipped off the glove of Hughson and came to league leading goal scorer Tyler Maltby in the slot, whose quick backhand shot stood up as the game-winner in a 3-2 Sherwood Park victory.
The Bandits outshot Sherwood Park 37-23 in the game, going 0 for 4 on the power play and a perfect 2 for 2 on the penalty kill.
Brooks will head down Highway 16 tomorrow night to take on the Lloydminster Bobcats, a team against whom the Bandits are 2-0 this year, at 7:30 PM. Pre-game coverage begins at 7:15 on Q105.7.