CALGARY, AB – Ty Mappin (Big Valley, AB) had three points to set a new career high, while Mitch Benson (Windsor, ON) stopped all 17 shots he faced for his fourth shutout, as the Brooks Bandits (37-3-4) downed the Calgary Canucks (28-15-3) by a 5-0 final score at the Max Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
The win was the fifteenth straight for the Bandits, and keeps them in first place in both the AJHL South Division and the league overall. Mappin’s three point night gave him a league-leading 68 points, one more than the 67 he scored last season.
It was the second straight win against the Canucks after a 3-1 home victory on Saturday night, and moved the Bandits to 3-0 on the season series against Calgary, having outscored them 10-1 so far.
Kord Pankewicz (Drayton Valley, AB) opened the scoring, collecting a pass sent in front by Mappin from the end boards and one-timing a low shot from the slot past Calgary goalie Logan Drackett at the 8:53 mark for the eventual game-winning goal.
After outshooting the Canucks 13-7 in the first, the Bandits saw a second period that featured only 9 total shots on goal, with Brooks outshooting Calgary 6-3 despite killing off four penalties in the middle frame.
Brooks nonetheless converted on two of those shots; the first coming after an end to end rush by Josh McKechney (Calgary, AB) led to his point blank backhand shot hitting Drackett’s pad, but producing a rebound that was tapped home by Conner Jean (Oakland, MI) to make it 2-0 at the 11:19 mark of the second.
Just over five minutes later, with Brooks on the power play, Dennis Cesana (Providence, RI) fired a shot from the right point that deflected off of Mappin’s stick and into the back of the Calgary net for a 3-0 Brooks lead, extending the team’s streak of games with at least one power play goal to 11.
Brooks got off to a quick start in the third, when just 66 seconds in, Foo collected a pass at the centre circle, drove into the Calgary zone, beat a defender and backhanded a close range breakaway shot past Drackett for a 4-0 Bandit advantage.
Oliver Chau (Oakville, ON) capped off the scoring with his 27th goal of his rookie campaign at 12:27, jamming a puck in from the right side of the net after an Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) shot from the slot.
The Bandits continue on the road this coming weekend, taking on the Spruce Grove Saints on Friday night at 7:00 PM followed by the Drayton Valley Thunder on Saturday night at 7:30 PM.