Spruce Grove, Alberta – The Brooks Bandits defeated the Spruce Grove Saints 9–6 at Thompson Family Arena on Friday night. The Bandits scored five third-period goals to secure the win.
Jack Good opened the scoring on the power play at 1:41, finishing a pass from Harry Ahlberg. Brodie Hankel responded at 10:33 to tie the game 1–1 heading into the first intermission.
Josh Polak scored at 6:26 of the second period to give the Saints a 2–1 lead. Brett Barnes (9:37) and Chris Battaini (13:31) extended the lead to 4–1. The Bandits responded with three late goals in the period. Leon Bussmann scored at 13:52, Liam Fitzpatrick added one at 16:02 off a pass from Isaac Johnson, and Good scored his second of the night at 17:53 to tie the game 4–4 heading into the third.
Frantisek Albrecht capitalized on a defensive turnover early in the third to give Brooks the lead. Alexei Zhukov scored at 3:13 to make it 6–4. Polak scored his second of the game at 4:18 to cut the deficit to one, but the Bandits regained control with another goal at 8:09. Fitzpatrick added two more goals (15:54 and 19:27) to complete the 9–6 victory.
The Bandits will face the Saints twice more next week at Thompson Family Arena.
Brooks returns to action Saturday night at Centennial Regional Arena against the Cranbrook Bucks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. MT.
