BROOKS, AB (February 3, 2018) – The Brooks Bandits (37-11-1) recorded their second double-digit win streak of the year, and improved their record against the North division to 12-0, downing the Whitecourt Wolverines (29-15-5) by an 8-3 score line on Saturday night at the CRA in front of an announced crowd of 1,492.
The Bandits wore special mental health-themed jerseys which were auctioned off throughout the night, raising thousands of dollars for the Canadian Mental Health Association. A final tally of the donation will be announced next week.
The Bandits opened the scoring on their second power play of the game, when a Brandon Scanlin (Hamilton, ON) point shot that broke the Bandit rookie’s stick trickled in on Whitecourt goalie Xavier Potvin who made the save; but Nic Hamre (Ottawa, ON) swept in the rebound for his 15th of the year and a 1-0 Bandit advantage.
At the 14:32 mark, on another Bandit power play, Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) fed a perfect pass from the right circle to Matt Cassidy (Medford, NJ) at the net front, who deflected the puck between Potvin’s pads and into the net for a 2-0 Bandit lead. Brooks outshot Whitecourt 15-4 in the first, going 2 for 3 on the power play.
Early in the second, the Bandits extended the lead off a faceoff when Dennis Cesana (Providence, RI) charged down the right boards and flung a pass through the crease to Jakob LaPointe (Leduc, AB) who was waiting backdoor to one-time it in and make it 3-0.
But less than a minute later, the Wolverines broke the goose egg on Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) when a Spencer Bast shot on an odd-man rush bounced off the goalie and lay on the goal line for Ben Evanish to tap in to make it 3-1.
But the Bandits responded just over a minute later when Pierre-Anthony Martineau (Sherbrooke, QC) tipped in a Simon Boyko shot to make it 4-1. On the next shift, just 19 seconds after the Martineau goal, Will Garin (Mound, MN) beat his defender in the left corner, charged to the front of the net and swept a wrister by Potvin to make it 5-1.
Late in the frame, another Scanlin power play shot took a deflection in on Potvin who made the save, but left the rebound home at the side of the net for Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) to hammer in and make it 6-1. The Bandits outshot Whitecourt 17-4 in the second, for a two-period total of 32-8.
In the third, Luke Bast (Red Deer, AB) blasted home a power play slap shot goal just 2:08 in to make it 7-1. Fists flew at the 12:55 mark when Jakob LaPointe and Chase Haygarth dropped the gloves, with LaPointe landing a series of late right hands to knock the Whitecourt forward to the ice. But the Wolverines got two quick goals shortly thereafter; the first a backhander from the front of the net by Spencer Bast at 14:41, and the second a breakaway wrister by Hayden Clayton just 14 seconds later to pull Whitecourt within 4.
But the Bandits got the final marker when Mack Hancock (Kingston, ON) flung a puck in front from the side of the net for Louis Jamernik (Calgary, AB) to one-time home to notch the 8-3 final score.
At the final buzzer, Jake Hobson of the Wolverines cross-checked Cale List (Petawawa, ON) in the face in front of the Bandit bench, drawing a major penalty, game misconduct, and two-game suspension.
The Bandits outshot the Wolverines 45-16 in the game, going 4 for 10 on the power play and 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.
They’ll next head on the road to take on the Lloydminster Bobcats on Friday night at 7:30, with pre-game coverage starting at 7:15 on Real Country 105.7.