OKOTOKS, AB (January 8, 2022) ““ Parker Sawka (Cochrane, AB) made 38 saves in a career highlight performance, as the Okotoks Oilers (19-19-2) defeated the first-place Brooks Bandits 4-3 on Saturday night at Pason Centennial Arena.
With the win, the Oilers extend their lead over Canmore for 4th in the AJHL South to four points, and sit ten points out of third.
QUICK HITS: The Oilers battle with Brooks in an #AJHL classic, taking down the Bandits 4-3 in Okotoks: pic.twitter.com/mGfmWgk4cw
“” Okotoks Oilers (@OkotoksOilers) January 9, 2022
Bowden Singleton (Calgary, AB) opened the scoring just 2:05 into the game when he chopped a puck from the left side of the net past Brooks goalie Ethan Barwick for an early Oiler advantage.
At the 7:43 mark, rookie defenceman Brody Maguire (Calgary, AB) finished off a masterful tic-tac-toe passing play from Rieger Lorenz (Calgary, AB) and Singleton, tapping one in backdoor for a 2-0 Okotoks lead.
Brooks pulled closer with a Brendan Mairs net front tip on a power play at 13:45, but Dean Spak (Calgary, AB) scored with just 25 seconds left in the period on a net front scramble to reclaim the three-goal advantage.
In the second, the Oilers put together one of their best performances of the season, outshooting the Bandits 17-12 and converting once, when Ryan Neumann (Calgary, AB) sniped a shot post-and-in at 6:15 for a 4-1 lead.
The Bandits pressed hard in the third, though, getting early goals from TJ Hughes on the power play at 2:43 and Aiden Fink at 3:44 to make it a one-goal game. But Sawka made 11 huge saves in the period, and the Oilers held on for the dramatic win. Okotoks was outshot 41-31 in the game but took the win despite a 6-2 power play disadvantage, going 4 for 6 on a frequently tested penalty kill.
Okotoks will host the Sherwood Park Crusaders at home in their next game on Friday night at 7 PM. Tickets are available online at tickets.okotoksoilers.ca.
Photo: Chad Goddard Photography