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Bandits stage late surge to defeat Spruce Grove

Brooks took a 1-0 lead in the AJHL finals, defeating Spruce Grove 5-2 Friday night. (Photo: Twitter@BrooksBandits/ Chad Goddard) Brooks took a 1-0 lead in the AJHL finals, defeating Spruce Grove 5-2 Friday night. (Photo: Twitter@BrooksBandits/ Chad Goddard)
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After falling behind 2-0, the Brooks Bandits bounced back with five straight goals Friday night, defeating the Spruce Grove Saints 5-2.

The victory gave the Bandits a 1-0 lead in the Alberta Junior Hockey League final.

Caelan Fitzpatrick scored twice, and Hunter Wallace, Jordan Hughesman, and Danylo Korzhyletskyi scored for the Bandits.

Kadyn Chabot and Liam Watkins scored for Spruce Grove.

Ethan Barwick made 26 saves in goal for Brooks to gain the victory.

The game was played in front of a raucous house in the Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks.

Korzhyletskyi broke a 2-2 tie with his goal, his first of the playoffs.

After the game, Korzhyletskyi said the atmosphere was electric Friday night.

"It was amazing," he said. "Full, packed building. Crowd, fans – I just love playing here. It's awesome."

He said he will remember the feeling of scoring his first goal of the playoffs.

"Oh man, it's like the best feeling out there," he said. "As I said, the fans were electric, the loudest it can get – so we scored, and you just feel yourself at the top of the world.

"It's the best feeling out there."

Korzhyletskyi said the team didn't panic when Spruce Grove opened up a 2-0 lead.

"Everybody was pretty calm," he said. "We knew we were better, we just needed to play our game. Stuff like this happens, so we're gonna put our heads down and just keep playing, and the result is the result: 5-2."

Game 2 is Saturday night in Brooks. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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