The Blackfalds Bulldogs walked into the Centennial Regional Arena on Sunday and walked out with a 6-2 win over the Brooks Bandits, turning a three-game Brooks homestand into a 1-1-1 weekend for the home side.
Brooks had opened the stretch with a convincing 6-2 win over Trail on Wednesday, but the Bulldogs never let them get comfortable. Blackfalds jumped on them early, built a 3-0 lead in the first period (including a pair of goals on a long 5-on-3), and then answered every time Brooks tried to claw back in the second. Matthew Croxall scored twice, Ryul Kwon added a goal and a couple of helpers, and Carter Matthews sealed it with an empty-netter. It was the second time this season the Bulldogs have taken the Bandits, after also winning the season opener 6-4 back in September.
The result keeps Blackfalds right in the mix in the Interior East. Brooks still sits at the top of the division with 21 points, but the Bulldogs (now with 20) closed the gap and showed they can go into a tough building and control the game from the jump. For Brooks, it was a rough way to wrap up a homestand that started so well; for Blackfalds, it was another solid road win against a division rival.
Matthew Croxall made it a 1-0 game for the Bulldogs just 52 seconds into the game on a terrible turn over by the Bandits (which aused two of them to crash into each other). The goal was Croxall’s 11th of the season unassisted.–Right off the hop two Bandits bumped into each other in their own end and the puck popped free. Croxall was right there to knock it in before Brooks could even set up.
Dean Toskos made it a 2-0 game for the Bulldogs on the Power Play at 14:28 of the first period. The assists on the goal went to Luke Walkauskas and Ryul Kwan.–Brooks took three penalties on one shift and ended up in a long 5-on-3. Toskos buried one while the Bandits were still trying to figure out who was supposed to be covering who.
Antoine Gauthier made it 3-0 on the Power Play at 15:11 of the first period. The helers on that goal went to Dean Toskos and Denis Kuzmenkov.-Still on that same lengthy 5-on-3, Gauthier put the second one in. That pretty much put the game out of reach before the first period was even halfway done.
Shots on goal in the first period were 13-7 for the Bulldogs
Brossar, Wu–Quebec native Christophe Lussier got the Smokies on the board at 1:35 of the second period. The assist on the goal went to former Chilliwack Chief Koby Francis.–Lussier got a stick on a shot from the point and deflected it past the Bulldogs goalie for his ninth of the year. For a second it looked like Brooks might actually claw back into it.
Ryul Kwan got the Bulldogs up 4-1 at 12:31 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Da Sol Kim and Luke Walkauskas.–Blackfalds answered almost right away. Kwon put it home and restored the three-goal lead before the Bandits could even settle in.
Makaio Van Tassel got the Bantis within 2 at 17:13 of the second period while the Bandits were on the Power Play. The assists on the goal went to Dmitrij Divelka and Zachary Delleau.–Later in the second Van Tassel scored on the power play, his 11th of the season. That one kept Brooks’ power-play streak going, but it didn’t last long.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-7 for the Bandits
Matthew Croxall made it a 5-2 game at 15:34 of the third period with the assist on the goal going to Da Sol Kim and Ryul Kwan.–Croxall got his second of the night in the third period. It was the one that really snuffed out whatever hope Brooks still had left
Carter Matthews gets his first goal of the season into the empty net at 18:48 of the third period unassisted to make it a 6-2 game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 10-7 for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs outshot the Bandits 30-29 in the game.
For the Bulldogs Nico Armellin stopped 27 of the 29 shots that he faced for the win. For the Bandits Emile Beaunoyer stopped 24 of the 29 shots he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Nico Armellin 2) Ryul Kwan 3) Luke Walkauskas
Attendance in Brooks was 1079
Next game is Friday November 13th against the Okotoks Oilers
