BROOKS, AB (December 14, 2018) – Simon Gravel (Boucherville, QC) had two shorthanded breakaway goals, as the Brooks Bandits (31-3) beat the Drumheller Dragons at home 5-2 on Friday night.
The Bandits exploded for three third period goals to break a 2-2 deadlock after 40 minutes, outshooting the number-two team in their division 32-22 overall, extending their win streak to 7 games, and extending their South division lead to 17 points.
As the Bandits attempted to kill off a tripping penalty just over halfway through the first period, Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) poked a puck free at the left circle that allowed Gravel to scoop it up at the blueline. Gathering speed, he charged in on Drumheller goalie Hunter Virostek and tucked a backhand shot in to give Brooks the 1-0 lead.
Drumheller battled back though, with Derrick Budz scoring on a screen shot from the left circle at 13:35 to make it 1-1.
In the second, Gravel was the beneficiary of Andrew Lucas (Alexandria, VA) knifing a puck up the near wall, which again Gravel gathered with speed, beating the Drumheller defence and firing a forehand shot in glove side on Virostek for a 2-1 Bandit advantage just 3:41 into the 2nd.
But Drumheller finally converted on a power play with 4:59 left in the period on an Adam Heindel point shot.
Brooks dominated the third, though, outshooting the Dragons 12-6 and scoring thrice, beginning with Randy Hernandez (Miami, FL) firing home his first as a Bandit 57 seconds in on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Jordan Di Cicco (London, ON) fired home a wrist shot on the power play from the blue line at 7:40 to extend the lead, and then with the goalie pulled, William Lemay (Marieville, QC) flung a backhand shot from the red line that caromed into the empty Drumheller net to notch the 5-2 final score.
The Bandits will host the Calgary Canucks on Saturday night to cap off their pre-Christmas schedule with Ugly Christmas Sweater Night, wearing special one-time jerseys that will be auctioned off throughout the game. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.