OLDS, AB (September 20, 2016) – Playing a game for the first time outside of the friendly confines of the Centennial Regional Arena, the Brooks Bandits (2-1) nonetheless built on their Saturday night thrashing of the Calgary Mustangs, by scoring 7 times and downing the Olds Grizzlys (1-2) 7-2 on Tuesday night at the Olds Sports Complex.
For the second straight game, the Bandits allowed the opening goal, when Grizzly forward Landon Gross fired a shot home from the slot, beating Alex Horawski (Toronto, ON) on the glove side, just 64 seconds into the game off the rush.
But the Bandits responded at 8:35 on their first power play when Ty Mappin (Big Valley, AB) tied the game, and took the lead at the 12:24 mark on an Oliver Chau (Oakville, ON) goal, his fourth in three games as a Bandit.
In the second, the Bandits exploded for 24 shots on goal and 3 more goals, but not before Parker Foo (Edmonton, AB) pushed an Olds player into a pane of glass just outside the penalty box area and shattered that glass, resulting in a nearly 20-minute delay.
When play resumed, the Bandits took control, as Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) scored on a close range power play shot at the 11:18 mark. The Grizzlys responded with a Jeremy Klessens goal, shot from the top of the left circle, but Brooks converted twice in the final 80 seconds of the second as well; the first a long Josh Gagne (Caledon, ON) point shot to make it 4-1 Bandits, and then Chau stole a puck behind the Grizzly net and quickly centered to Mappin, whose one-timer beat goalie Ben Giesbrecht to make it 5-2.
Brooks scored twice more in the third; first Nick Prkusic (Medicine Hat, AB) dangled around a defender at the left circle and cut to the front of the net, quickly backhanding in his first goal of the season. Then, on a power play, Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) jammed in his first Junior A goal on a rebound shot from the left circle to notch the 7-2 final score.
The Bandits outshot Olds 44-30 in the game, with Horawski making 28 saves for his first Junior A win. Brooks went a whopping 4-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 5-for-5 killing penalties.
The next test for the Bandits will be a big one with the upstart North division Whitecourt Wolverines in town Friday night for a 7:00 puck drop at the CRA. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca, by phone at (403) 501-0122, or in person at the arena.