Bandits use big 2nd period to power their way to 5-1 win over Ottawa at 2023 Centennial Cup
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MB – The Brooks Bandits used a big 2nd period to power their way to another win at the 2023 Centennial Cup, defeating the Ottawa Jr Senators 5-1 at Stride Place on Saturday.
The Bandits had five different goal scorers; Hunter Wallace (Oak Lake, MB), Mikhail Simchuk (Kyiv, UK), Hudson Malinoski (Saskatoon, SK), Brendan Poshak (Green Bay, WI) and Aiden Fink (Calgary, AB), while Ethan Barwick (St. Albert, AB) made 25 saves for the win.
Brooks (2-0-0-0) leads Group A after Day 3 of competition, while the Jr Senators (0-1-1-0) sit in 2nd place.
Brooks opened the scoring with 15 seconds left in the 1st period. Fink (Calgary, AB) passed from the left half wall to the right point, where Ethan Beyer (Centennial, CO) then found Wallace (Oak Lake, MB) in front for the tap-in to make it 1-0 Brooks.
Simchuk (Kyiv, UK) made it 2-0 at 12:52 of the 2nd period, beating Ottawa starter Connor Shibley on a wraparound attempt. Then at 16:28, forward Hudson Malinoski (Saskatoon, SK) one-timed an Fink pass on the powerplay to triple the lead to 3-0. Forward Brendan Poshak (Green Bay, WI) knocked in a loose puck after Shibley made a diving save but failed to cover to make it 4-0 at 17:13. Fink made it 5-0 at 17:29, one-timing a Malinoski pass from the left circle.
Ottawa denied Barwick the shutout, tallying a goal just 61 seconds into the 3rd. Chase Lammi tipped a point shot to make it 5-1, but that’s as close as the Senators would get.
Brooks continues their Group A Preliminary Round on Monday, May 15 vs the Timmins Rock and Tuesday, May 16 vs the Terrebonne Cobras. Both games are at 3:30 pm (Central).
Puck drop at Stride Place in Portage is 3:30 pm (Central), with live coverage on Real Country 105.7 FM and realcountrybrooks.ca. The online stream is available at hockeycanada.ca.