Photo courtesy of Brooks Bandits

By Tyler King - Brooks Bandits

Shoot to Thrill

Bandits battle back to beat Drumheller 5-4 in home opener overtime thriller

Sep 21, 2019 | 1:50 PM

BROOKS, AB – Brayden Krieger (Elora, ON) fired home a breakaway shot 12 seconds into the extra frame, as the Brooks Bandits (3-0) continued their undefeated start to the 2019-20 season with a 5-4 overtime win over the Drumheller Dragons (1-2) in their home opener on Friday night.

The evening began with the Bandits celebrating their historic 2018-19 campaign and unveiling their four newest banners, including the 2019 National Championship.

The raucous crowd was given reason to cheer early, when Justin Ross (Calgary, AB) flicked a puck from the end wall to a waiting Bobby Harrison (Waterdown, ON) at the right side of the net, who roofed a short side shot past goalie Ryley Osland to give Brooks the early lead.

But the Dragons stormed back, with Brady Risk scoring on a rebound at 7:02, and Grayson Dietrich firing a puck home from the slot at 11:04 to give Drumheller the 2-1 lead after 1, outshooting the Bandits 10-8.

The second period, however, belonged to Brooks, with the home side outshooting their opposition 16-6 and notching two more goals. First, captain Jake Lee (Owen Sound, ON) tapped home the rebound of a deflected Corson Ceulemans (Beaumont, AB) shot to tie the game back up at the 12:35 mark, and just over three minutes later, Ceulemans spotted Randy Hernandez (Miami, FL) with a breakaway pass, and the veteran Bandit flipped a backhander past Osland to give Brooks a 3-2 lead.

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Drumheller would not go quietly though, as Eric Martin beat Pierce Charleson (Aurora, ON) from the slot at 6:35 to tie it 3-3. Chris Pappas (Toronto, ON) scored an unexpected goal from the corner that bounced off Osland’s stick and past him at 14:23, but Adam Heindel one-timed in a puck from the top of the crease at 16:50 to tie the game again at 4 and force the extra frame.

Lee won the opening faceoff for Brooks, back to defenceman Tim Rego (Mansfield, MA) in his own end. The Holy Cross commit evaded pressure behind his own net, streaked up the ice, and then fired a perfect pass to a fresh-off-the-bench Krieger at the opposing blue line, who sped in on the breakaway and fired a forehand shot into the back of the Drumheller net to send the Bandits streaming off the ice.

Brooks will go for a 4-0 season start tomorrow night when they host the Calgary Canucks at 7:00 PM at the CRA. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.