Blackfalds, Alberta – The Brooks Bandits lost 5-2 to the Blackfalds Bulldogs at the Eagle Builders Arena on Friday night. It was tied both after the first period (1-1) and the second period (2-2), but the Bandits were unable to hold off the Blackfalds attack in the third.
Things were looking up in the first period as Mathis Dufour scored a beauty on a breakaway just over one minute into the first period (1:03). Joey Melo was able to tie things back up at the 8:58 mark of the first period for Blackfalds.
At the 3:52 mark of the second period, Isaac Johnson scored a power play goal on a beautiful feed from Liam Fitzpatrick and Harry Ahlberg, but again Blackfalds clawed back and tied it for a second time at the 11:06 mark of the second frame.
In the third period, Zach Zahara kept the Bandits in the game with some high difficulty saves, but Nikita Ivashchenko eventually broke through at the 5:09 mark of the frame for the Bulldogs. The ensuing ten minutes were action packed with chances from both teams, but no one scored. Thomas Neu eventually scored again on a broken play at the Bandits’ blue line and seemingly put the game out of reach.
Matthew Croxall scored an empty netter at the 19:31 mark and matched the Bulldogs’ previous win margin against Brooks in September.
The Bandits have a chance to get revenge Saturday when they host the same Bulldogs squad at the CRA. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.
