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Comeback kids earn weekend split

Facing a winless weekend the Okotoks Oilers pulled one out the hat.
Okotoks Oilers centre Colin O’Neill slips the puck past Calgary Mustangs goaltender Ryan Ternes at Pason Centennial Arena on Nov. 21. The goal sparked a 5-0 run in
Okotoks Oilers centre Colin O’Neill slips the puck past Calgary Mustangs goaltender Ryan Ternes at Pason Centennial Arena on Nov. 21. The goal sparked a 5-0 run in Okotoks’ 5-2 win.

Facing a winless weekend the Okotoks Oilers pulled one out the hat.

Rookie winger Braeden Nesbitt netted a third-period hat-trick as the Oilers erased a two-goal deficit and trumped the Calgary Mustangs 5-2 on Saturday night to earn a split of a mini two-game home stand.

“The boys got motivated and we outworked them in the third period,” said Nesbitt. “It was our first (comeback) so it boosts everyone. If we can do it with these guys, we can do it against anyone.”

The last-placed Mustangs played the role of spoiler to perfection through the first half of the contest, simplifying their game on defence and using opportunism on offence to build up a two-goal advantage through Vincent Paquette and Everett Putz.

Okotoks got a much-needed shot of adrenaline in the final seconds of the middle stanza. Moments after Riley Morris stymied Putz on a powerplay breakaway the puck trickled down the boards to Okotoks’ Colin O’Neill who didn’t miss on his own breakaway opportunity with just 13 seconds left in the frame.

“It hopped over the defenceman’s stick and I was able to get in on the breakaway,” O’Neill said. “I knew it had to be pretty quick because I had two guys on my back and I knew five-hole was a pretty quick move.

“After we got that first one the flood gates kind of opened.”

Okotoks evened the score at 2-2 when Nesbitt scored one of the more fortuitous goals he’ll ever register six minutes into the third period.

“The d-man shot it off me, he was trying to get it in the corner and it went off me and in. It was pretty lucky,” Nesbitt said. “You’ve got to work hard to get luck so it was nice to finally get rewarded.”

The six-foot-three forward then gave the hosts their first lead of the contest when he buried a rebound opportunity on the powerplay.

On the next shift, in-form forward Nolan Thompson potted his seventh of the campaign. Nesbitt then put the final touch on the first hat-trick of his Junior career with an empty-net tally.

“There was a few positives, especially in the third period,” said Oilers head coach James Poole. “We started to go to the net-front area and pay the price to score some goals even though they were ugly goals. That’s where we’re going to start to generate more offence.”

The front-end of the back-to-back was going Okotoks’ way before a late Crusade.

Okotoks saw its 2-0 lead to the Sherwood Park Crusaders evaporate on Friday as the visitors stormed back with three unanswered to win 3-2 in overtime.

The Oilers earned a two-goal advantage at the first intermission on powerplay tallies from affiliate defenceman Jonathan Tychonick and Thompson.

League leading goal scorer Tyler Maltby cut the deficit in half with his 23rd marker of the season in the middle frame. The Crusaders had a golden opportunity to even the score late in the frame before Tanner Laderoute’s penalty shot was turned aside by Okotoks’ Brian Wilson.

Sherwood Park finally evened the contest with 5:23 remaining as Ryan Kruper picked the pocket of Wilson on a shorthanded play to force overtime.

In the extra session, Cameron Brezinksi used time and space in three-on-three to convert on a two-on-one chance and complete the comeback.

“The way we played with the lead in the third period, I thought we turned pucks over and made stupid mistakes in terms of turnovers at the offensive blueline and forcing plays,” Poole added. “We had our opportunities and didn’t have that urgency to stretch the lead.

“If you’re scoring two goals a game you’re going to let teams hang around. Hopefully that’s a message of having that killer instinct, having that hunger to get the next goal.”

Okotoks, fourth in the South with a 14-10-2 record, closes out the month with two games in three days this week. The team renews its rivalry with the Camrose Kodiaks for the fourth time this season on the road on Nov. 26 before returning home to host the struggling Grande Prairie Storm on Nov. 28. For more information on the team go to okotoksoilers.ca


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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