GRANDE PRAIRIE, AB (January 20, 2023) — Conyr Hellyer (Okotoks, AB) scored in the fourth round of the shootout, and Ethan Rowland (Calgary, AB) shone with two goals, to give the Okotoks Oilers a dramatic 5-4 comeback win over the host Grande Prairie Storm on Friday night.
The Oilers battled back from 2-1 and 4-3 deficits to win the game, outshooting the Storm 46-29 in the game. But Storm goaltender Adam Kelly made 42 masterful saves to give his team a chance to win.
QUICK HITS: The Oilers come out on top in a see-saw battle with Grande Prairie, taking it 5-4 in a shootout on Friday night! #AJHL pic.twitter.com/aRhZHgkiQj
— Okotoks Oilers (@OkotoksOilers) January 21, 2023
Okotoks got the first goal on a power play wrist shot from Sam Huck (Calgary, AB) in the first, before a Nathan Rickey shot off the rush and an Ayden Peters net front tip gave the Storm a 2-1 advantage.
The game was tied on the only goal of the second, in which Kelly cleared the puck up the wall but Ethan Rowland got to it first, one-timing it into an open net to make it 2-2.
In the third, the Oilers went ahead on Rowland’s second, a breakaway backhander set up on a nice pass from returning captain Dean Spak (Calgary, AB). But the Storm replied with goals on back to back shifts from Robert Pizzey and Alex Atwill to retake a one-goal advantage. Okotoks forced overtime with a late power play rebound goal from Zeth Kindrachuk, which after a scoreless five minutes necessitated the four-round shootout that Hellyer decided with a backhand goal of his own.
Okotoks goalie Alex Scheiwiller (Calgary, AB) made 25 saves for his ninth win of the season. The Oilers will continue their north road trip Saturday night when they take on the Whitecourt Wolverines at 7:00 PM. Pregame coverage starts at 6:45 PM on The Eagle 100.9.