CAMROSE, AB (February 16, 2023) – Hunter Wallace scored twice in his return; as the Brooks Bandits put up five goals in the opening period, carrying them to an 8-1 blowout win over the Kodiaks at Encana Arena on Thursday.
The Bandits (47-5-2) have won six straight games, and four straight on the road. Wallace scored a pair of goals in his first match since November 11th, where he sustained an injury that kept him out of the lineup for 30 straight games. Brooks also had goals from Danylo Korzhyletskyi, Wes Turner, Caelan Fitzpatrick, Mikhail Simchuk, Elliot Dutil and Sam Court.
Goaltender Ethan Barwick made 18 saves for his 41st win of the season as the Bandits finishws the season series with the Kodiaks winning five of six.
Korzhyletskyi (Kyiv, Ukraine) opened the scoring at 3:12 of the 1st period, as Captain Dario Beljo (Sudbury, ON) pass from the wall to an open Korzhyletskyi, who went backhand, forehand to beat Kodiaks starter Freddie Halyk to make it 1-0. The Bandits doubled the lead at 4:52, as Turner (Granite Bay, CA) took a right wing pass from Aiden Fink (Calgary, AB) and scored from the right circle to make it 2-0, his first goal of the season. Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK) tripled the lead to 3-0 at 8:27, tipping in an Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) shot. Simchuk (Kyiv, Ukraine) cleaned up an Aaron Brown (Belleville, ON) rebound at 11:23 to make it 4-0. Wallace’s first of the game came at 14:12 on the powerplay, tapping in a Fink pass to make it 5-0.
The Bandits extended the lead to 6-0 at 7:51 of the 2nd period, as Dutil (Montreal, QC) redirected a Fitzpatrick pass off the rush. Wallace (Oak Lake, MB) hammered a one-timer from Sam Court (Winnipeg, MB) at 10:47 on the powerplay to make it 7-0. Court would score his own on a slapshot blast from the point at 18:16 to give Brooks an 8-0 advantage. Barwick’s shutout bid was spoiled with just 15 seconds left in the period on the penalty kill, as Nathan Sullivan knocked in a rebound to cut the lead to 8-1.
No goals were scored in the 3rd period, final shots were 46-19 Brooks.
The Bandits are back in action on Friday, February 17th, when they host the Calgary Canucks at the Centennial Regional Arena, game time is 7:00 pm.
The Annual Family Day Game is Monday, February 20th, as the Bandits host the Drumheller Dragons at 4:00 pm. Fans 17 and under get in for free, plus there’s a Skate with the Bandits following the game.