The Brooks Bandits locked up the top spot in the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) standings with a dominant 9-3 win over the Portage Terriers at Affinity Place on Wednesday.
“The guys were really fired up for this one,” said Bandits defenceman Joe O'Connor, who notched a power-play goal and a shorthanded marker in the second period.
Bandits captain Derek Lodermeier got the goal-fest started 1:37 into the opening frame on the power play when he backhanded a shot under Terriers goalie Josh Bykowski after picking up the puck in the slot off a rebound. The Bandits (3-0) would add two more before the game was eight minutes old with Lodermeier and Tyrell Mappin, on the power play, finding the back of the net.
With the shot clock reading 15-1 in the Bandits favour 12-and-a-half minutes into the frame, Terriers defenceman Brett Orr got his team on the scoreboard with a wrist shot from the hash marks that found both posts before going in. Portage forward Braydon MacDonald made it 3-2 a little over a minute into the second period before Shawn Bowles broke in shorthanded and fired a shot top corner glove side on Bandits netminder Garret Hughson to even the score at threes.
“When they made it 3-1 I was hoping it was a wakeup call,” said Bandits head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou. Then “3-2 probably should have served as that. (And) 3-3, I don't know if we needed to wait that long, but (we're) lucky we got some power plays and converted. Otherwise it could have been a much different game.”
Brooks defenceman Tristan Thompson scored the game winner with his team enjoying a five-on-three advantage when he one-timed the puck from the hash marks top corner glove side. O'Connor got the insurance marker 21 seconds later on a shot from the point that went top corner blocker side.
Bandits' Landon Welykholowa and O'Connor notched two more for Brooks in the middle frame, while Kyler Nachtigall and Mappin lit the lamp in a lacklustre third period with both teams seeming to know the eventual outcome.
“They moved the puck,” said Terriers (2-1-1) head coach and general manager Blake Spiller, noting key defenceman Dean Stewart was out of the lineup due to a puffed up ankle acquired from blocking a shot the previous night and high-scoring forward Nick Henry was also in the press box with a flu bug running through the team. We “got to be disciplined against a team like that for sure. We struggled obviously with our PK (penalty kill) and it's been good for us all year.”
Shawn Bowles, who is tied for the WCC scoring lead with one goal and four assists in four games, said guys just try to create good habits when their team gets down that many goals in a game. He said everyone knows what is at stake with their round-robin portion of the tournament now at a close and a berth in the WCC playoffs looming.
“We're just going to go and give it our best this weekend,” he said.
