The Brooks Bandits dominated the first period of their 3-0 win over the Melfort Mustangs on Monday night at Affinity Place, but seemed to take their foot off the pedal the rest of the way.
The AJHL champion Bandits move to 2-0 at the Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup (WCC) with the win. Brooks earned their first victory in a chippy 4-2 win over the BCHL champion West Kelowna Warriors (1-1) on Sunday afternoon.
“We were on the (penalty kill) for 31 minutes and after we got a chance to watch all the penalties last night a lot more of them were just than we thought,” said Ryan Papaioannou, head coach and general manager of the Bandits. “We took some bad penalties and a little bit different standard at a tournament as opposed to being in a league final, but we needed to realize what we were up against and do a better job.”
The Bandits came out flying in the opening minutes of the first period against the SJHL Canalta Cup winning Mustangs (0-2). Bandits forward Jeff Malott opened the scoring 4:37 in on a shot from the top of the circle that hit Mustangs goalie Richard Palmer's glove, bounced over him and trickled into the net.
Malott scored his second of the game and third of the tournament about five minutes later thanks to a nasty dangle by teammate Tyrell Mappin who undressed a Mustangs defenceman at the bottom of the circle before passing the puck cross crease to Malott for the easy tap in. Bandits' Jared Cockrell scored Brooks' third goal with 3:40 left in the opening frame by picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, speeding past a Mustangs defenceman caught standing still near his blue line and firing the puck low stick side on Palmer from in close. Brooks took one minor penalty in the frame compared to the six they earned in the first period against the Warriors.
Brooks controlled the play for portions of the tight-checking second period, but neither team was able to generate many chances. Melfort seemed to have the edge in the early moments of the third, but a blocker save by Bandits goaltender Garret Hughson on a Justin Boyer shot from in close five minutes into the frame kept their three-goal lead intact. The Mustangs ran into penalty trouble shortly afterwards taking two five-minute majors to kill any hope of a comeback.
“We wanted to make sure we got pucks in deep and limit turnovers and we didn't really execute that until about the second period to be honest,” said Melfort Mustangs head coach and general manager Trevor Blevins. “We bought into forechecking hard. I thought they struggled at times with our forecheck and that was a big key for us to get in and be physical. Really to me you take the first 20 minutes away it was a pretty even hockey game. They generated some shots on the power play, the two five minutes they had, but I thought it was a really well played hockey game for both clubs for the last 40.”
Mappin said the Bandits can dominate at this tournament if they do a better job with their passing game and utilize their speed. He said their next match against the MJHL champion Portage Terriers (2-0) on Wednesday night should be a good test for them and they'll have to play to their capabilities to get the win.
“We were trying to put a little fear into the other teams with our speed and our skill,” said Mappin about the statement they're making in their first two games. “We played pretty good and we still have a lot more to give and hopefully we can bring that against Portage.”
