OKOTOKS, AB (December 4, 2021) ““ Rieger Lorenz (Calgary, AB) scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season 50 seconds into overtime as the Okotoks Oilers (14-16-1) came back from an early 2-1 deficit to beat the visiting Calgary Canucks 4-3 on Saturday night.
The win gives Okotoks a 3-point lead over Canmore for 4th place in the AJHL South, and a 4-point lead on sixth-place Blackfalds who has three games in hand, and will meet the Oilers twice next week.
Rookie defenceman Kade Turner (Calgary, AB) opened the scoring, sneaking in down the right side and one-timing in a perfect backdoor pass from Brendan Boyle (Lake Country, BC) for his fourth of the season.
But Calgary stormed back, despite being outshot 17-8 in the frame, getting a goal off a faceoff from Matthew Brunton to tie it at 13:39 and then taking the lead on a high slot shot from Daxton Budd with just 15 seconds left in the period.
Okotoks re-tied it in the second on the power play, when Ethan Jamernik (Calgary, AB) was denied on a backdoor one-timer, but collected the puck behind the net and banked it off goalie Ty Young and in at the 14:29 mark to make it 2-2.
In the third, Okotoks took the lead on a one-timer from Boyle at 8:48. But with just 49 seconds left, Dylan Clark scored on a sharp-angle shot to force the extra frame for Calgary.
After a hasty line change early in the extra frame, it was Bowden Singleton (Calgary, AB) who found Lorenz with a pass up the middle for a breakaway. The Oilers”™ leading scorer stopped up, cut to his backhand, and slid the puck past Young to send the team streaming off the bench with its second consecutive home victory.
Okotoks outshot Calgary 48-20 in the game, with goalie Parker Sawka (Cochrane, AB) making 17 saves for the win.
The Oilers will travel to Blackfalds next Wednesday to take on the Bulldogs before returning home for a rematch on the Saturday night.