OKOTOKS, AB – Pierce Charleson (Aurora, ON) stopped all 23 shots he faced for his fifth shutout of the season, and the Brooks Bandits (47-3) extended their franchise record win streak to 23, with a 4-0 win in Okotoks over the Oilers on Tuesday night.
The win put the Bandits just one win away from tying the AJHL record for longest win streak, set by last year’s Okotoks team, and also put the team one win away from clinching first overall in the AJHL.
A back and forth first period swung in Brooks’ favour 12:09 into the game when Andranik Armstrong (Alexandria, VA) shot a puck from the high slot that caught Oiler goalie Brady Parker awkwardly, leading to a rebound tap in for the Bandit rookie to make it 1-0.
At 18:05, Brandon Scanlin one-timed in a rocket slap shot on the power play from the right side to double the Bandit advantage.
Brooks outshot the Oilers 9-4 in the first and 8-6 in the second, but didn’t solve Parker again until the third period, where the visitors added two goals despite being outshot 13-9.
At 3:52, Armstrong tipped in an Ethan Lund (Calgary, AB) point shot to extend the lead to 3-0. Okotoks was granted a power play, but forward Austin Wong checked Bandit forward William Lemay (Marieville, QC) in to the bench boards from behind to negate the advantage, while Jake Theis (Chanhassen, MN) one-timed in a loose puck from the high slot at 6:49 just after that Brooks power play expired to notch the 4-0 final score.
Brooks outshot Okotoks 26-23 in the game, going 1 for 5 on the power play and a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.
The Bandits will attempt to tie the AJHL win streak record on Friday night when the Lloydminster Bobcats come to town for a 7 PM puck drop. Tickets are available online at tickets.brooksbandits.ca.