BROOKS, AB (September 12, 2015) – In his first home game as Brooks Bandits (2-0) captain, Derek Lodermeier (Brooklyn Center, MN) got the crowd of 1,313 riled up regularly, notching a hat trick and adding an assist in a four-point night, as the Bandits won their second straight over the Canmore Eagles (0-2) on Saturday night, by a 6-2 final.
Nick Prkusic (Medicine Hat, AB) and Dylan McCrory (Kirkland, PQ) also had multi-point nights, recording two assists each, while second-year forward Jesse Pereira (Fort Erie, ON) had two goals, and goaltender Josh Davies (Guelph, ON) made 27 saves for his second straight win.
The captain opened the scoring at the 9:34 mark after a nifty setup by sophomore defenceman Charlie Marchand (Calgary, AB). Marchand cut down the right side of the Canmore zone, then sped his way into the slot and ripped a shot in on goaltender Ryan Gilchrist, who made the initial save. But the rebound popped out to Lodermeier, perfectly positioned at the front of the net, who tapped it in for the opening goal.
Just over two minutes later, though, the Eagles knotted the game up when Matt Forchuk collected a puck at the left circle after a series of saves at the side of the net by Davies, and fired a spinning shot into an empty net to make it 1-1.
But just over seven minutes after that, it was Pereira scoring his first on a late power play, firing a high wrist shot into the top left corner of the Eagles net from the right-wing faceoff circle to make it 2-1.
In the second, the Bandits’ penalty kill prowess continued with their league-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the year. Austin Wright (Niagara Falls, ON) chipped a puck along the bench boards to a wide open Derek Lodermeier, who sped in on a breakaway and tucked a puck between the pads of Gilchrist for his second of the night and a 3-1 Bandits advantage.
At the 9:31 mark, off of a faceoff win by Mike Falanga (East Haven, CT), Pereira chased down a puck behind the Canmore net, cut to the left side of the cage, and fired a spinning backhand shot top shelf on Gilchrist for a nifty fourth bandits goal.
That was followed up just over two minutes later when rookie Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) fired a power play shot in from the right wing faceoff circle for his first goal of the season, and a 5-1 Bandits lead.
Canmore got one back with less than four minutes to go in the middle of the frame when a centering pass by Brett Radford found Kyle Pauls in front for a one-timer goal.
But early in the third, Lodermeier capped off the scoring with a blast of a slapshot from the left circle off of a pass from the left corner by Nick Prkusic to notch the 6-2 final. Lodermeier would later hit the crossbar on a chance in front of the net, barely being denied his fourth goal.
The Bandits outshot Canmore 34-29 in the game, going 2 for 4 on the power play and 5 for 7 on the penalty kill with a shorthanded goal.
Brooks will get a full week to prepare for its next two home games, Friday and Saturday nights against the Drumheller Dragons and Okotoks Oilers, respectively. Game time for both is 7:00 PM at the Centennial Regional Arena with tickets available at tickets.brooksbandits.ca, by phone at (403) 501-0122, and in-person at the Bandits office in the CRA.