OKOTOKS, AB (September 11, 2022) – Conyr Hellyer (Okotoks, AB) scored on a breakaway just 27 seconds into overtime, capping off a back and forth battle with the BCHL’s Cranbrook Bucks on Sunday afternoon and giving the Okotoks Oilers a 6-5 win to finish their preseason schedule.
The Oilers’ attention now turns to the team’s season-opening games in Camrose on Friday and Saturday nights.
Okotoks outshot the Bucks 14-6 in a feisty first period that saw five goals scored. Noah Quinn tallied first for the visitors on a sharp angle wrist shot 3:13 into the game, before defenceman Carter Matthews (Calgary, AB) equalized on a point shot 90 seconds later. Less than a minute after that, Luke Pfoh scored his first of two goals on the night to put Cranbrook out in front, but Okotoks responded with a Logan Magowan (Calgary, AB) point shot at 8:45 and a Connor Gourley (Calgary, AB) tip of a Brody Maguire (Calgary, AB) point shot at 19:02 to give the home side a 3-2 lead.
Pfoh scored again at the 4:07 mark of the second to tie the game back up, but Zeth Kindrachuk (Calgary, AB) scored on a wrister from the slot against his former team for a 4-3 lead, and Gourley scored his second at 17:36 on a shot from the left circle for a 5-3 advantage, despite a 12-9 Cranbrook shot advantage.
Although Okotoks outshot Cranbrook 11-9 in the third, the period belonged to Bucks, as they got a goal from Jack Henry off a turnover in the high slot at 12:36, and the equalizer on the power play with a net front one-timer from Quinn for his second of the game and a 5-5 scoreline.
But the Oilers ended things early in the overtime frame, with Kade Turner (Calgary, AB) forcing a turnover at the defensive blue line and poking the puck ahead to Hellyer, who sped in on net and flipped a close range wrister into the Cranbrook net for the 6-5 victory.
The Oilers outshot the Bucks 35-27 in the game. Alex Scheiwiller (Calgary, AB) was credited with the win after coming in in the second period and stopping 18 of 21 Cranbrook shots.