CALGARY, AB (November 30, 2017) — Superb special teams and four goals in the span of four minutes helped propel the Brooks Bandits (18-10-1) to a blowout win in Calgary over the Canucks (13-15-1) on Thursday night at the Max Bell Centre.
Goaltender Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) picked up his league-leading third shutout of the year as he stopped all 29 shots he faced as Brooks went 3 for 6 on the powerplay and were 5 for 5 on the penalty kill in a 7-0 win. The Bandits wrap up the month of November with back-to-back wins.
Defenceman Carter Wolski opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game after shooting from the bottom of the right circle and over Canucks goaltender Erik Gordon’s left shoulder. It was the only goal in the first period.
Recently acquired centre Pierre-Anthony Martineau (Sherbrooke, QC) made his Bandit debut and didn’t waste any time getting on the score sheet. He pounced on a puck that jumped off the end boards and found the back of the net on the powerplay to make it 2-0 in the 2nd. Then, with under eight minutes to go in the period, Bandits forward Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) poked in a loose puck that Gordon couldn’t cover to make the Brooks advantage 3-0.
The Bandits came blasting out of the second intermission as forward Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) shot through the Canuck defence and slid the puck under Gordon on a five-on-three powerplay to score just nine seconds into the third period, chasing Gordon from the Calgary net who was replaced by Caiden Kreitz. Only 85 seconds later on the same powerplay, defenceman Brandon Scanlin (Hamilton, ON) rifled a slap-shot one-timer from the left circle on the powerplay to make it 5-0.
Luke Bast (Red Deer, AB) flung a puck in front from the left half-wall that Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) tipped home to make it 6-0 at the 2:47 mark, while Vachon capped off the scoring at 3:57 with his second of the period, one-timing home the seventh goal from the bottom of the right circle.
The Bandits held Calgary to just 6 shots in the third period, outshooting them 46-29 in the game.
The Bandits’ rematch with the Canucks goes Saturday at the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks for RBC Game Night. Tickets are available at tickets.brooksbandits.ca, with the game starting at 7:00 pm.
