The Okotoks Junior A Oilers came up flat in their chance to get within one point of first place in the South Division. The Oilers’ five-game winning streak came to an abrupt halt when the Camrose Kodiaks’ Kenny Bradley scored with 27 seconds left in the third period to give the Kodiaks a 5-4 victory Saturday in Camrose. The loss dropped Okotoks five points behind the first-place Kodiaks in the South Division of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Had they won, the Oilers would have been one point back.

Okotoks Oiler Derek Rodwell fires a shot wide of the net against Canmore Eagle Sam Brittain on Friday at the Centennial Arena. The Oilers went on to win the game 4-2.

“I didn’t think we had a good team effort,” said Oilers coach Garry VanHereweghe. “We had some guys who played outstanding but some of the other guys who we have high expectations from just didn’t deliver in what was probably our biggest game of the year.” The Oilers outshot the Kodiaks 29-19. While VanHereweghe was pleased with his team’s defensive effort, he was less than happy with the action in front of Camrose goalie Dalyn Flette. “I thought we kept most of the (Kodiaks’) shots to the outside but on the other end of the ice, I certainly didn’t think we created any quality scoring chances,” VanHereweghe said. “I was really disappointed in the work effort on the powerplay.” The Oilers gave up a pair of powerplay goals while scoring one. The Kodiaks had a 3-1 lead early in the second period on three goals by Erik Slemp, two of them on the powerplay. The Oilers got within one goal when John McInnis scored his team-leading 26th goal of the year to make it 3-2 with five minutes left in the second period. Okotoks got a giant lift going into the locker room when Brett Adnum tied the game at 3-3 with a powerplay goal with just one second left in the middle period. However, the Kodiaks returned the favour in the final frame when Bradley scored the winner with less than a minute to play. Sean Cahill was in net for Okotoks. The loss dropped the Oilers’ record to 28-16-0-2 for 58 points. The Kodiaks have 63 points but have played two more games. The Oilers pulled to within three-points of first place thanks to a five-game winning streak prior to the Kodiaks game. The streak included a 4-2 decision over the Canmore Eagles on Friday night at the Centennial Arena. The Oilers’ four goals came from four different veterans as Jeff Barrett, Brandon Hoogenboom, Chris Duszynski and McInnis beat Canmore goalie Sam Brittian. Rookie goalie Michael Matyas got the win in net for Okotoks. The Oilers played the Eagles again on Tuesday, Jan. 19 but results were too late for the Western Wheel’s publication deadline. Okotoks is on the road to play the Grizzlys in Olds on Friday night. The Oilers return to the Centennial Arena to play the Drayton Valley Thunder on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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