The Okotoks Junior A Oilers are leaving their South Division rivals in the dust and showing no signs of slowing down.
The Oilers extended their winning streak to 10 games with back-to-back victories last week starting with a win over the visiting Grande Prairie Storm on Thursday at the Centennial Arena.
After the Storm opened the scoring in the first, the Oilers responded with three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Colten Hayes, Michael Brown and Kyle Reynolds each tallied singles in a period dominated by the locals, who outshot Grande Prairie 12-4.
The Storm cut the Oilers’ lead in half at 4:21 of the third with a powerplay marker from Dominic Savole.
Nolan Huysmans restored the two-goal lead six minutes later for Okotoks, with an assist going to Colten Hayes.
The Storm was not quite done as Mitch Neumeier made it 4-3 with under a minute remaining, but That was as close as the visitors would come as the Oilers claimed the one-goal victory.
“I was happy with the way we played. I thought we, for the most part, controlled the game,” Oilers head coach James Poole said.
The shot totals were indicative of the play as Okotoks outshot Grande Prairie 36-19. Goaltender Michael Tadjdeh made 16 saves in net for the Oilers, who also went one for six with the man advantage.
The only bright spot for Grande Prairie was on special teams, as they went two for five on the power play.
“We took a few undisciplined penalties that ended up costing us and made it a close game,” Poole said.
With nine straight wins in their pocket, the Oilers took to the road the next night for a clash with the Camrose Kodiaks.
Camrose entered the night’s action 10 points back of Okotoks for first place in the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s (AJHL) South Division.
The Kodiaks came out flying with two goals from Cole Wilson and John Lidgett to take a 2-0 lead in the opening frame.
The Oilers cut the lead in half with a goal from Reynolds, the AJHL’s leading scorer, before the first intermission.
The team’s traded markers in the second as the Oilers remained down by one heading into the final frame.
The final 20 minutes were not kind to the hosts.
The Oilers recorded four unanswered goals from Reynolds, Jonathan Turk and Huysmans with a pair within an 11-minute span to put the finishing touches on a 6-3 decision – Okotoks’ second win in Camrose in six days.
“In the third period, we just had one of our best periods of the year,” Poole said.
The coach also pointed out winning a game against a traditional power like the Kodiaks is always sweet.
“We want to try and measure ourselves against Camrose,” Poole said. “I know our kids get up for that game a little bit more than others.”
Tadjdeh earned his second win in as many nights for Okotoks with 22 saves on 25 Kodiak shots. The Oilers fired 39 shots at the Camrose goal and starter Brayden Hopfe stopped 24 of them before he was relieved by back-up Christopher Wray.
The Oilers finished two for six on the powerplay while Camrose converted once on three opportunities.
With their 10th straight win Okotoks improved their record to 28-9-3, good for 59 points.
The Oilers will return home following the Christmas break for a date with Okotoks’ Joel Paiement and the Calgary Canucks on Friday, Jan. 7 at the Centennial Arena. Puck drop will be at 7 p.m.
