Bandits drop home opener to Oilers, 3-1
BROOKS, AB – The Brooks Bandits (0-2) dropped their home opener for the second straight year to their divisional rivals, the Okotoks Oilers (2-0) on Saturday night by a 3-1 score, as the Oilers completed the sweep of their season-opening home and home series, following up a 4-2 win the night before.
A crowd of 1,406 at the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks was the best home opener crowd for the Bandits since 2013, the year the team raised its RBC Cup championship banner. But Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) provided the only major burst of noise from the assembled fans with his goal in the second period.
A scoreless first period saw the Bandits outshoot Okotoks 9-4, but backup goalie Ben Howard performed admirable in the absence of star tender Riley Morris for Okotoks.
Two close calls for the Bandits failed to open the scoring; the first a slap shot from the slot by Parker Huebner (Leduc, AB) that rang the right post, and the second a stuff attempt by Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) at the left side of the Oiler net that stuck under the pad of Howard, with the officials conferring with the goal judge before upholding the no goal call.