CAMROSE, AB (September 18, 2021) ““ The Okotoks Oilers (1-1) bounced back from a season opening defeat Friday night, never trailing in Saturday night”™s rematch as they defeated the host Camrose Kodiaks 6-2.
Conyr Hellyer (Okotoks, AB), Ben Johnson (Lindstrom, MN), Brendan Boyle (Lake Country, BC), and Kade Turner (Calgary, AB) all scored their first goals in Oiler uniforms, while Rieger Lorenz (Calgary, AB) added two empty netters in the third period. Austin Zavoda (Hershey, PA) stopped 23 of 25 shots for his first AJHL win in his Oiler debut.
Okotoks opened the scoring 11:42 in on the power play when Hellyer tapped one home from the net front, before Johnson tapped in a backdoor pass just 62 seconds later on a masterful setup by Bowden Singleton (Calgary, AB) to make it 2-0 Okotoks after 1 despite five Camrose power plays in the period.
Boyle scored on a nice dangle to the net front and backhand shot at 4:46 of the second, but Camrose responded with back to back goals from Carson Whyte on rebounds at 8:41 and 12:41 to cut the deficit to one. But a shot off the rush by Turner of the Oilers at 15:03 slipped through goalie Jackson Fellner and in to make it a 4-2 game.
In the third, Zavoda made his best save of the night on a rebound opportunity, reaching up with his glove from the seat of his pants and snagging a golden Camrose opportunity to keep his team ahead by two. Lorenz’s two empty net goals sealed the final, with the Oilers going a perfect 8 for 8 on the penalty kill and 1 for 4 on the power play.
The team returns home for its home opener on Friday, September 24th, hosting the Canmore Eagles at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available online at tickets.okotoksoilers.ca