Brooks Bandits beat Sherwood Park 6-4, extend win streak to three
Christophe Lussier scored his first career goal and added a shorthanded empty-netter as Brooks held off a late Sherwood Park rally on Saturday.
The Brooks Bandits defeated the Sherwood Park Crusaders 6-4 at the Centennial Regional Arena on Saturday, marking the teams' first meeting since Brooks won a seven-game Alberta final playoff series last spring. Sherwood Park led 2-1 after the first period on power-play goals from Dmitry Pavlov and Finn Kalley, sandwiched around a Makaio Van Tassel marker for Brooks.
Brooks answered with four unanswered goals in the second period. Zachary Deleau scored his second of the season, Tommy Holtby netted his first two goals as a Bandit, and Christophe Lussier scored his first career goal. Sherwood Park cut the deficit to one in the third with power-play goals from Dylan Rousselle and Pavlov, his second of the game, before Lussier sealed the win with a shorthanded empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining.
Lussier finished with four points on two goals and two assists and was named the game's first star. Seven Bandits recorded points, including four with multi-point efforts, while goaltender Yundi Cai made 34 saves for his first BCHL win. The win followed a 5-2 victory over the Spruce Grove Saints on Friday, in which Tomas Racz scored twice and Brooks allowed just 18 shots.
The Bandits now sit first in the Interior East Division with a 3-1 record and three straight wins. Brooks and Sherwood Park meet again Wednesday in Sherwood Park.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.