OLDS, AB (October 30, 2018) – Ryan Mahshie (Stoney Creek, ON) had three goals, while 16 of 18 Bandit skaters had at least 1 point, as the Brooks Bandits (15-2) re-entered the win column with an 11-1 road win over the Olds Grizzlys on Tuesday night.
The Bandits scored twice in the first, six times in the second, and three times in the third en route to their second-highest offensive output of the season.
It took until fewer than three minutes remained in the first for the Bandits to break through, when Ray Christy (St. Paul, MN) fired a pass from the point to Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) at the left circle just after a power play had expired; the Bandit veteran’s one timer went off a stick and deflected in past Olds goalie Duncan Hughes to open the scoring.
On the very next shift, returnee Orca Wiesblatt (Calgary, AB), playing his first game of the season with the team, shot a puck from the right corner that produced a rebound for Taylor Makar (Calgary, AB) to tap in for his second career goal.
In the second, Mahshie opened the scoring on a rebound at the side of the net just 1:47 in, before Carter Wolski (Sexsmith, AB) drove down the right wall, broke to the slot and fired in a high backhand goal to make it 4-0 at the 6:07 mark. Olds got one back with a long shot by Rylan Burns at 6:46, but it would be the only blemish for goalie Josh Graziano (Williamsville, NY), who registered his second win as a Bandit, stopping 17 of 18 shots.
After the Grizzlys cut the deficit, Simon Gravel scored from the right side of the net on the power play at 9:39 to start a sequence of seven straight Brooks goals. Another Gravel shot at 13:40 produced a rebound that Jakob Lee (Owen Sound, ON) fired in to make it 6-1. Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) scored at 14:35, and then Mahshie one-timed in a puck from the right circle on the power play at 16:55 to make it 8-1.
In the third, Mahshie completed his hat trick 41 seconds in on a wrister from the slot set up by Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) for a 9-1 scoreline, before Wyatt Villalta (Kingston, ON) blasted in his first as a Bandit from the blue line at the 3:17 mark, and Theis bookended the scoring with a power play rebound goal at 9:01.
The Bandits outshot the Grizzlys 39-18 in the game, going 4 for 6 on the power play and a perfect 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.
They’ll head back home to host the Canmore Eagles on Friday night at 7 PM at the Centennial Regional Arena, with tickets available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca and the night’s 50/50 pot starting at $5,410.