Photo: Matthew Murnaghan/Hockey Canada Images

By Jesse McGowan

Bandits off to final

Host Bandits advance, Kings look to join

May 18, 2019 | 4:22 PM

For the fifth straight year, the host of the National Junior A Championship is off to the finals.

The Brooks Bandits remained undefeated Saturday afternoon, winning 4-3 against the Ottawa Jr. Senators, and secured their spot in the National Championship game Sunday at 2 pm Pacific.

The Bandits took a commanding 4-1 lead early in the third period, but the Ottawa squad pushed back moments later, looking to avoid losing in the NJAC semifinals for a second consecutive year.

The team scored two goals in under four minutes, one of them shorthanded, to pull within one of the Brooks team. However, the comeback would fall short after the Sens pulled the goalie. It wasn’t due to an empty netter, instead a penalty for too many men. They’d be set back a player for the final 1:15, leading to the 4-3 loss.

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Since 2015, every team that’s hosted the National Championship has made it to the finals, with three of the four hosts winning. The only exception was in 2017, when the West Kelowna Warriors won over the Lloydminster Bobcats in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan.

The Bandits have appeared in the finals twice in the last seven years. They won in 2013 in PEI, before falling short two years ago to the Cobourg Cougars on their home ice in Ontario.

With the Bandits through, the Spruce Kings will look to join them for a rematch of their 3-1 loss in the final game of the round robin on Thursday night.

The Kings are getting set for a 7 pm MDT (6 pm PDT) puck drop against the Oakville Blades. The PG team squashed the Blades on Sunday in their tournament opener, 5-1. The game can be viewed here.

TSN”s Craig Button was seen at Centennial Regional Arena on Saturday, as his broadcast crew prepares to televise the National Junior A Championship game on Sunday.

The Kings are hoping they’ll be there for a final shot at the Bandits with national glory on the line.