The Okotoks Oilers continued their upward trajectory on a marathon road trip.
Okotoks took four of a possible six points from its Nov. 26-28 sojourn through Grande Prairie, Whitecourt and Drayton Valley to improve to 12-15-1 in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
“I think it was definitely a positive weekend for the team,” said Oilers captain Tucker McRae. “We had two big wins and the third one is always tough with the three in three.
“In past years, I know we’ve struggled with that last game, it’s a grind mentally and physically. But the team did a good job and (Jack) McNaughton played very well in the first two games.”
The Oilers opened the weekend by blanking the Grande Prairie Storm 1-0, followed it up by outlasting the Whitecourt Wolverines 5-3 and concluded the three game set in a 5-1 defeat to the Drayton Valley Thunder in the Nov. 28 matinee.
“I’m super excited,” said Oilers head coach Tyler Deis. “Just having the guys back from the injuries, I really like the way that we played (all weekend).
“And even though the game was 5-1, we played well in that (Thunder) game there, just a little bit of bad luck, but super happy with the guys.”
Brendan Boyle scored the lone tally for Okotoks in Drayton Valley as the visitors were stymied by Thunder netminder Jackson Berry, a former Okotoks U15 AAA Oilers standout from Chestermere, who made 30 saves on 31 shots.
Okotoks received terrific goaltending in its own right, particularly in the weekend opener.
Jack McNaughton, who joined the team the week prior, stopped all 25 shots he faced versus the Storm to lock down his second consecutive shutout.
“That’s not an easy thing travelling the whole day then having that game in Grande Prairie,” Deis said. “We’ve done it in the past and it’s always a tough grind.
“I thought they were just really committed without the puck and played a really smart game and Jack gave us a chance to win.”
Centre Brett Huxley notched the game winner on a second period tally as Okotoks locked it down from there.
“Everyone was working hard in the d-zone, guys knew their roles and then having McNaughton back there, he made some big saves to keep that zero the way it was,” McRae added. “Some of the young guys on the back-end stepped up and made some big plays defensively and were strong in our own zone.”
Led by Rieger Lorenz’s first career hat-trick, the Oilers got by a tough Wolverines squad 5-3 the following night.
“We played phenomenal and were buzzing in that game,” Deis said. “A couple bad mishaps in the third, but we stuck with it which was the best part of that game.
“We stuck with the game-plan and came out with a really good victory.”
McNaughton had his shutout streak halted at 160 minutes with Whitecourt making a late push to tie the contest at 3-3 before Lorenz added the game-winner and set up Boyle’s empty net tally.
“We played a really strong first period, we had the momentum and getting up with that three-goal lead they call it the toughest lead in hockey,” McRae said. “We got into a little bit of penalty trouble, but I think that was a huge character win just to show that guys aren’t going to give up, they’re going to keep battling.
“And Rieger there had a great performance with the three goals and assist on the empty-netter.”
Okotoks, winners of three of its last four games, sits fourth in the AJHL’s South Division with 25 points, one point up on Canmore and two ahead of Blackfalds.
“We had some tough times there with the injuries and we knew we were a young group and would have some learning situations throughout the year,” Deis said. “But we just have to stay with it and stay positive, at the end of the day we know we’re going to win some games and lose some games.
“But we want to ensure that we instill that we’re playing the right kind of way.”
This week, Okotoks is in Olds on Nov. 30 and then battle the Calgary Canucks in a home-and-home set on Dec. 3 and 4 with the latter contest at Pason Centennial Arena, a 7 p.m. puck-drop.
“I think guys are starting to get the confidence back, especially up-front,” McRae said. “With a lot of the young guys, they’re starting to get more games under their belt. Especially with the addition of McNaughton, guys are feeling really confident in the team’s game and I’m hoping we can just keep moving forward and keep getting better.”
For more information go to okotoksoilers.ca.
