ESTEVAN, Sask. – The Pickering Panthers and Brooks Bandits will meet Sunday in the Centennial Cup championship game, albeit the Panthers had a much tougher time getting to the winner-take-all showdown at Affinity Place.
Jacob Partridge scored a shorthanded goal for the Ontario Junior Hockey League squad at 9:54 of the first period and teammate Lucas Rowe added an insurance marker at 2:49 of the third to sneak past the Dauphin Kings 2-0 in Estevan, Sask.
Zachary Roy made 32 saves to record the shutout. Carson Cherepak stopped 27 of 29 shots in Dauphin’s net.
The Kings, from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, had finished preliminary round play in the national junior A championship on top of Group B with three wins and one overtime loss, while the Panthers finished second in Group A with three wins and a loss.
The Bandits rolled through preliminary play in the Centennial Cup, topping Group A with a 4-0 record, averaging nine goals a game and only allowing 1.75 goals against.
The Bandits’ offence showed no signs of letting up in their semifinal Saturday as they scored four times in the first period, three times in the second and bounced the College Francais de Longueuil 11-2.
Ryan McAllister paced the Alberta Junior Hockey League squad with two goals and two assists, while other goals were added by T.J. Hughes, Nic DeGraves, Zach Bookman, Ethan Lund, Dario Beijo, Brendan Kennette, Anthony Cipollone, Brendan Mairs and Aiden Fink, who also chipped in with four assists. Devon Phillips had four assists for the winners, who outshot .
Zachary Racicot and Owen Stammer had third period goals for College Francais de Longueuil who were outshot 44-19.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2022
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