Hat trick from Hernández helps Bandits to road win in Drumheller

DRUMHELLER, AB – The Brooks Bandits (30-1-1) picked up their 6th straight win thanks to 4-2 road victory over the Drumheller Dragons at the Memorial Arena on Friday.

Forward Randy Hernández (Miami, FL) scored a natural hat-trick and goaltender Pierce Charleson (Aurora, ON) made 22 saves for his league leading 25th win of the season.

The Bandits got off to a hot start as Hernández filled the net twice in the opening six minutes. First he took a Brayden Krieger (Elora, ON) pass and backhanded the puck past Dragon netminder Colin Ahern to make it 1-0 at the 3:36 mark.

Three minutes later, after an offensive zone faceoff win, Hernández deked out Ahern with a forehand shot to make it 2-0.

The Dragons were able to get one back, as forward Scout Truman scored unassisted at the 8:48 mark on a powerplay.

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In the second period, Drumheller was back on the powerplay. Forward Eric Martin found a loose puck after a net front scramble and knocked it in to tie the game 2-2.

Brooks retook the lead, as Hernández one-timed a Brayden Krieger (Elora, ON) pass and fired it into the Dragon net to make it 3-2 Bandits at the 10:54 mark.

The third period saw a flurry of action, but the one goal edge stayed until the final minutes.

The Dragons pulled Ahern for the extra attacker, but after a Bandit timeout, forward Chris Pappas (Toronto, ON) intercepted a Dragon pass at their blueline and tucked in an empty net on the wraparound to make it 4-2. With 11 seconds remaining, the Dragons thought they had scored, but it was ruled the puck went under the net to beat Charleson.

It was the third win over Drumheller in the last 7 days.

The Bandits will close out the busy week on Saturday (Dec. 7) when they host the Olds Grizzlys at the Centennial Regional Arena. Game time is 7:00 PM, which coincides with Scotiabank Teddy Bear Toss.

All stuffed animals thrown on the ice after the first Bandit goal will be donated to the Smiles for Christmas program. Buy your ticket ahead by visiting tickets.brooksbandits.ca.