OKOTOKS, AB (April 23, 2024) – For the second time in the series, Johnny Hicks and the Brooks Bandits didn’t allow a goal thanks to 5-0 win in Game 3 of the Alberta Semifinal on Tuesday at Centennial Arena.
Hicks made 31 saves for his second shutout of the series (he had a 43 save shutout in Game 1), while the Bandits had goals from Caelan Fitzpatrick, Josh Wiebe, Nathan Free, Danylo Korzhyletskyi and Keith McInnis. The Bandits lead the best-of-seven series 2 games to 1, with Game 4 scheduled for Wednesday in Okotoks.
Okotoks outshot Brooks in the opening 10 minutes, but Hicks (Kamloops, BC) kept the game scoreless. The team rewarded him at 17:52, as defenceman Quinn McCall (St. John, IN) fed a breakout pass to Fitzpatrick (Moose Jaw, SK), who carried into the zone on a two-on-two, cutting to his left and scoring forehand on a shot that was tipped and beat Oilers starter Christian Green.
The Bandits had to wait until 14:11 of the 2nd period to double the lead to 2-0, as Wiebe (Calgary, AB) finished off a two-on-one rush pass from Parker Lalonde (Aberdeen, SK).
Free (Calgary, AB) made it 3-0 at 8:!2 of the 3rd period, sniping a top shelf shot off the rush thanks to a pass from Korzhyletskyi. Then at 14:05, Korzhyletskyi (Kyiv, UA) scored from the right circle on a tight angle, shooting five-hole to make it 4-0. All of the Bandits goals came five-on-five until the 5-0 goal from Keith McInnis (Red Deer, AB), who hammered a right circle slapshot on the powerplay at 19:13 to make it 5-0.
Final shots were 32-31 Brooks.
Game 4 of the series goes Wednesday, April 24th in Okotoks. Game time is 7:00 pm on New Country 105.7 FM and FloHockey.
Game 5 is Friday, April 26th in Brooks at 7:00 pm. Tickets are available at brooksbandits.net.
