It was a game worthy of a packed house and luckily for the Okotoks Junior A Oilers, the fans were there to spur them to victory.
The Okotoks Oilers defeated the Camrose Kodiaks 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night in front of club-record crowd of 1,569 fans at the Centennial Arena.
“Having the fans here was a surreal feeling,” said the Oilers’ Michael Strong, who recorded the game-winning marker. “The place was just rocking, it was great.”
Oilers coach James Poole agreed and stressed more crowds like the one on Saturday night should help propel the Oilers into the playoffs on a high note.
“The crowd definitely did help us,” he said. “Hopefully, we can keep on getting good crowds leading up to the playoffs and in the playoffs. That support goes a long way to helping us.”
The win extended the Oilers’ (37-9-5) lead atop the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) South Division to 13 points over the second-place Brooks Bandits (30-16-6).
Xxxx magic numbbver here pleasex The visiting Kodiaks, who were drubbed by the Oilers at the Centennial Arena on Jan. 21, came into the game with a chip on their shoulder.
They used that motivation to jump on the Oilers immediately as Camrose captain Clayton Jardine recorded the only goal of the first period.
Both teams traded markers in the second as Ben Gamache scored for the Oilers and Sam Jardine replied for the Kodiaks on the powerplay.
Down by one heading into the final frame, the Oilers fed off their fans’ encouragement.
Jonathan Turk’s goal mid-way through the third period threw the boisterous crowd into a frenzied state as the game was deadlocked at 2-2.
With nothing decided through 60 minutes, the game was to be decided by five minutes of three-on-three overtime.
While it is exciting for the fans, the coaching staffs on either side weren’t exactly enthused to decide the game that way.
“I’m not a huge fan of it really,” Poole explained. “I’d prefer four-on-four but three-on-three is exciting for the fans.”
At 1:31 of the extra frame, an unlikely hero emerged for Okotoks.
Strong, the Oilers’ stay-at-home defenceman, swung behind the net and threw the puck behind the outstretched pad of the Kodiaks’ netminder Dalyn Flette.
“I was fortunate to be able to tuck that in,” said Strong of his wrap-around winner.
The crowd erupted as Strong’s second goal of the season delivered two more points to the Oilers in their chase for the South Division crown.
Jardine, the Kodiaks’ captain, was encouraged by his club’s play in a hostile environment. However, the end result was still not what he had envisioned.
“It was a good momentum builder but obviously we wanted the big ‘W’ and we didn’t get it,” he said.
One of the main reasons Camrose was able to hang around, Jardine said, was the success of their powerplay. The Kodiaks converted two of their four extra man opportunities.
“We scored both our goals on the powerplay and that was nice to see. Going into playoffs, you’re going to need the powerplay,” Jardine said.
Poole also credited the Kodiaks for keeping the Oilers on their heels.
“I thought Camrose was really good tonight. They played a hard game,” he said.
With only nine games to go before the AJHL playoffs, Poole stressed his team has to learn better habits.
Despite a successful month of January, the Oilers coach knows his team has developed some bad habits.
“Sometimes we’ve had some bad games where you’d almost like the other team to make us pay for it so we could learn our lesson,” Poole explained. “We’re not paying for our mistakes right now.”
As for Strong, the goal was a nice way to celebrate getting back on the ice after an extended layoff due to injury.
Although he is pleased to be playing, the Oiler defenceman doesn’t anticipate his goal-scoring touch to be his calling card down the stretch.
“I’m not going to be promising anything,” he laughed.
The Oilers will be in action on Sunday, Feb. 6 against the Drumheller Dragons at the Centennial Arena. The puck will be dropped on the Sunday matinee at 1:30 p.m.
