Blackfalds Bulldogs Bonnyville Pontiacs Brooks Bandits Calgary Canucks Camrose Kodiaks Canmore Eagles Drayton Valley Thunder Drumheller Dragons Fort McMurray Oil Barons Grande Prairie Storm Lloydminster Bobcats Okotoks Oilers Olds Grizzlys Sherwood Park Crusaders Spruce Grove Saints Whitecourt Wolverines

Hellyer scores 30th, Sawka stops 19, as Oilers beat Calgary 5-1 on Family Day

Zeth Kindrachuk scores in the third period to give the Oilers a 4-1 lead (Chad Goddard Photography)

OKOTOKS, AB (February 20, 2023) — A season-high crowd of 1,238 was treated to a dominant performance by the host Okotoks Oilers on Monday afternoon, as the team took down their divisional rival the Calgary Canucks by a 5-1 score in a Family Day matinee.

Okotoks outshot the Canucks 33-20 in the game, with goaltender Parker Sawka (Cochrane, AB) making 19 saves in his return to the lineup for the win.

Conyr Hellyer (Okotoks, AB) opened the scoring with a backdoor tap-in set up by Sam Huck (Calgary, AB) off the rush at 12:01, making him the 15th Okotoks Oiler in franchise history to reach 30 goals in a season.

Connor Gourley (Calgary, AB) added to the lead with a rebound goal at 19:12, while affiliate defenceman Carter Matthews (Calgary, AB) made it 3-0 at the 12:15 mark of the second period with his first AJHL goal, scored off the rush on a nice setup by Huck.

Calgary pulled closer with a Zephyr LaPlante goal 1:25 into the third after a turnover by Okotoks behind the net, but the Oilers charged back with a net front scramble goal by Zeth Kindrachuk (Calgary, AB) at 11:00 and a turnaround wrister goal by Nolan Flint (Beaverlodge, AB) at 17:53 to notch the 5-1 final score.

Huck led the way offensively with three assists on the night. The Oilers went 1 for 3 on the power play, marking their third consecutive game with at least one power play goal.

Okotoks remains two points behind Blackfalds for second place in the AJHL South with a 34 – 19 – 3 record, but moved 5 points up on Drumheller for the third spot, with one extra game played. They will host the Brooks Bandits on Friday night for the first game of a home-and-home series, with puck drop at 7 PM; tickets are available at tickets.okotoksoilers.ca .