BROOKS, AB (December 18, 2015) – The Brooks Bandits (26-6-2) made it eight straight wins on Friday night at home, sneaking by the Okotoks Oilers by a 2-1 final score to sweep the teams’ home-and-home series.
With the win, the Bandits remain three point ahead of the Camrose Kodiaks for first place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) South division.
A scoreless first saw the Bandits outshoot Okotoks 11-7, but Oiler goalie Riley Morris, as he would for the remaining 40 minutes, stymied Brooks on a bevy of golden scoring opportunities.
In the second, just 3:08 in, the Bandits finally broke through when Jeff Malott (Waterdown, ON) flung a pass from his own zone on the penalty kill to a streaking Jared Cockrell (Byfield, MA) at neutral ice; he sped past the Oiler defence and tucked a backhand breakaway shot past Morris for a 1-0 Bandit lead.
But despite the first Oiler power play resulting in a Bandit goal, the second Oiler power play was far more productive, as Colin O’Neill snuck a shot in from the left wing faceoff circle to tie it up for Okotoks at the 10:37 mark of the middle frame.
In the third, the Bandits held the Oilers to just 6 shots, and fired 11 of their own, including the eventual game-winner. Malott won a faceoff to defenceman Joe O’Connor (Hamden, CT) at the blue line. His quick pass to Jesse Baird (Brampton, ON) at the right halfboards quickly developed into a diagonal backdoor pass to leading scorer Dylan McCrory (Kirkland, PQ), whose hard one-time shot snuck past Morris to give the Bandits a lead they were able to hold onto.
The Bandits outshot the Oilers 35-24 in the game, as Josh Davies (Guelph, ON) made 23 stops for his 24th win of the season.
Brooks closes out its 2015 schedule tomorrow night, when the Fort McMurray Oil Barons come to town for an inter-divisional matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM with pre-game coverage starting at 6:45 on Q105.7.
Shoppers Drug Mart Player of the Game: #21 Dylan McCrory
Boston Pizza Hardest Working Bandit: #12 Jesse Baird