Captain Nathan Plessis (Salmon Arm, B.C.) scored the first of a hat trick performance at the 5:05 mark when he collected his own rebound off a wraparound attempt and flipped the puck by a sprawling goaltender Connor Ungar of the Oilers to give Brooks a 1-0 advantage. He then doubled the lead on the power play at the 15:27 mark, firing home a one timer from the right circle on a perfect backdoor feed by Lemay to make it 2-0.

In the second, Simon Gravel (Boucherville, QC) scored just 34 seconds in when he backhanded home a puck from the slot. Ben Evanish scored on a rebound for Okotoks to get the visitors on the board at 3:18, but the Bandits responded at 9:42 with Plessis’ hat trick goal, a tap-in from the top of the crease on another Lemay setup on the power play to push the score to 4-1 Brooks.

In the third, Gravel notched his second of the night when he backhanded home a puck from the left side of the net that barely trickled over the Oiler goal line. With 14 seconds left in the game, Arnaud Vachon (Ajax, ON) scored on a perfectly placed top shelf wrister off the rush while shorthanded, to not only notch the 6-1 final score but also send the home crowd with free Wendy’s cheeseburgers.

The Bandits outshot the Oilers 38-27 in the game, going 2 for 5 on the power play and a perfect 4 for 4 on the penalty kill to end the year. Pierce Charleson (Aurora, ON) made 26 saves for his 42nd win of the season, which tied Michael Fredrick’s mark from 2012-13 for second-most in AJHL history.

The Bandits will now enter the playoffs on a first round bye, awaiting the lowest seeded remaining South division team after the first round is complete. They are scheduled to host Games 1 and 2 of the South Semi-Final on Friday, March 15th and Saturday, March 16th.