Bandits win wild Game 1, 7-5 over Okotoks
BROOKS, AB – Two of the top defences in the AJHL collided in Game 1 of the league’s South Final on Friday night, yet more than a quarter of the shots on goal in the game entered the net, as the Brooks Bandits took an offensively-charged 7-5 win over the visiting Okotoks Oilers to open the league semifinal.
Brooks outshot Okotoks 27-19 in the game, getting points from 13 different skaters in the win.
The opening goal came just 4:59 into the game with a second remaining on Brooks’ first power play, when Ryan Mahshie (Stoney Creek, ON) slid a low shot from the right circle past Okotoks goalie Brady Parker. But Ben Evanish tied it for Okotoks less than two minutes later, tapping home a rebound from the left side of the Brooks net. But 43 seconds after that, Brandon Scanlin (Hamilton, ON) set up Mack Hancock (Kingston, ON) on a 2-on-1 rush, as the Bandit forward cut to the net and flipped a backhand shot past Parker to reclaim a one- goal lead for Brooks.
At the 11:43 mark, Evanish slid another rebound shot by Pierce Charleson (Aurora, ON) to tie the game 2-2, but just over a minute after that, a Simon Boyko (Mississauga, ON) centering pass was tipped in by Jakob Lee (Owen Sound, ON) to give Brooks the narrow advantage after one.