BROOKS, AB (December 29, 2017) – Will Garin (Mound, MN) sent the crowd of 1,410 into a frenzy with an overtime game-winning top right corner wrist shot on Friday night, as the Brooks Bandits (25-10-1) extended their win streak to nine games with a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Mustangs (17-17-4) at the Centennial Regional Arena.
The Bandits trailed by 1-0 scores after both the first and second periods, but came back to tie it on a Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) goal in the third to set up Garin’s game-winner in an otherwise sensational goaltending duel between Brooks’ Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) and Calgary’s Joey May.
The Mustangs opened the scoring with just over two minutes left in the first when Brady Barclay scored on a net front tip set up from the point by Tyler Lentz.
In the second, the Bandits outshot the Mustangs 19-4 but couldn’t solve May. In the third, however, Boyko deflected home a point shot from Carter Wolski at the 7:30 mark to knot the score up at 1-1. Brooks outshot the Mustangs 7-4 in the third, and 40-17 overall in the game, but the extra frame was nonetheless required, in no small part thanks to a stellar late save by Benson after a turnover to Joe Karpyshyn in the Bandits slot, whose shot was stopped by a sprawling right pad save from the Brooks netminder.
A Dennis Cesana (Providence, RI) breakaway in overtime led to another major May save, but also drew a penalty to send the Bandits to the power play. Though they didn’t convert with the man advantage, the game-winner came on the ensuing 4-on-4 sequence when Wolski left the puck for Garin at the blue line. The Bandit forward charged into the slot and fired the wrister home through a screen to send the Bandits streaming off the bench in celebration.
The Bandits hit the road tomorrow for a Saturday night showdown in Canmore against the Eagles, the start of a home-and-home series that will see the Eagles then visit Brooks on New Year’s Day on Monday in a special 4pm start. Tickets for that game are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca, while tomorrow’s game can be heard starting at 6:45 on Real Country 105.7.