Goaltender Zach Zahara made 21 saves as the Bandits drop to 29-9-0-2 on the season, three points behind second-place Trail, who beat Penticton in overtime on Friday.
In the opening frame, the Bandits outshot the Bucks 13-10 but the lone goal-scorer was defenceman, Jack McMinn as he potted his first goal of the season to put the Bucks ahead 1-0 at the 13 minute mark in the period. Forward Luke Bibby made his Bandits debut since being traded from Vernon, while defenceman Conor Ryan also made his debut after signing with the team.
In the middle frame, it took just over one minute for the Bucks to double their lead as forward Patrick Murphy put the puck behind Zahara. Later in the period, Bandits forward AJ Lacroix got the Bandits on the board as he scored on the powerplay to make it 2-1, finishing off a pass from behind the goal line from centre Parker Lalonde. However, just 14 seconds later, Bucks forward Rasmus Svartstrom got the pass on a 2-on-1 and scored to make it 3-1. Four minutes later, Bandits forward Liam Fitzpatrick scored his 6th goal of the season, going shelf to make it 3-2.
Quickly in the third, Lacroix scored his 2nd goal of the night, also on the powerplay, on a backhander from the slot to tie the game 3-3. Forward Davide Patella had a chance to give the Bandits the lead with a couple netfront chances, but couldn’t score.
The Bucks scored three unanswered goals, Murphy’s second made it 4-3, and three minutes later, Svartstrom scored two goals to get his hat trick, one off a turnover then an empty netter.
The Bandits powerplay went 2/4, the penalty kill went 2/2.
The Bandits are back in action tomorrow night, February 15 at 7:05 PM, when they take on the Okotoks Oilers at the Viking Rentals Centre.
