BROOKS, AB (January 5, 2019) – Canadian country music star Gord Bamford made a surprise appearance to sing the national anthem, and the Brooks Bandits (37-3) maintained their undefeated home record and extended their win streak to 13 with a 3-1 win over the visiting Drumheller Dragons on Saturday night.
All four goals in the game came in the second period, as Brooks outshot the Dragons 43-18 in the game.
Despite outshooting Drumheller 13-3 in the first period, the Bandits didn’t break through against Dragon starter Daniel Allin until the 1:24 mark of the second period, when a point shot by Luke Bast (Red Deer, AB) produced a rebound that Ray Christy (St. Paul, MN) tapped home. Just over a minute later, Nathan Plessis (Salmon Arm, B.C.) fed a pass from the left circle to a waiting Randy Hernandez (Miami, FL) at the right side of the net for a backdoor tap in and a 2-0 lead.
Drumheller broke Pierce Charleson’s (Aurora, ON) shutout bid at the 18:06 mark when Jordan Taupert scored on a rebound. But on the next shift, the Dragons turned the puck over in their own slot to Andranik Armstrong (Alexandria, VA), who spun and fired a shot that rang the post, but bounced to Plessis for another rebound tap in to notch the 3-1 final.
Charleson made 17 saves on 18 shots to push his record against the Dragons to an undefeated 4-0. The Bandits extended their lead over Sherwood Park for 1st overall to 14 points, and lead Okotoks in the South division by 23 points, with 20 games remaining in the season.
The Bandits remain home to take on the Camrose Kodiaks next Friday at 7 PM at the CRA. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.