An Oiler goalie robbed the Bandits.
Okotoks Oilers netminder Riley Morris stopped 49 shots and Trey DeGraaf scored with 19 seconds left in three-on-three overtime to down the Brooks Bandits 2-1 Saturday at the Pason Centennial Arena to cap a flawless opening homestand.
“We gave up 50 shots, but a lot of them came from the outside,” Morris said. “We fronted a lot of pucks, blocked a lot and cleared a lot of pucks out front.
“But it wasn’t easy.”
No kidding. Morris was spectacular in overtime.
He made a butterfly-like save on a breakaway by the Bandits Charlie Marchand midway through OT.
In the final minute, he slid over to stop an attempt by Parker Foo. Morris was then able to get the butt of his stick on an in-close attempt by another Bandit on the rebound.
“I leaned over as far as I could and just got a bat on it,” he said.
Seconds later, the Oilers Jordan Davies picked up a loose puck and got it up to Carson Beers. The hard-charging Beers passed across to DeGraaf who slipped the disc past Brooks goalie Tony Rehm for the game-winner.
“I decided to go to the net and Beers made a great pass and luckily I was there,” DeGraaf said. “They outshot us pretty bad but we stayed positive. To beat a team, like that, who obviously has a lot of history in this league gives us a lot of confidence as a young team going forward.”
The Oilers opened the scoring when Danton Davis persevered and knocked in his own rebound at the side of the net early in the second period. The Bandits tied the game with a powerplay goal when Morris saw more Bandits than were in the James Brothers Gang. The Bandits had a four-on-two and Brooks defenceman Cale Makar took a drop pass from Tyrell Mappin and shot a wrist-shot knuckleball that bounced between Morris’ legs.
The Bandits dominated the second period so much they should have paid rent in the Oilers end of the rink. They outshot Okotoks 16-4 in the second stanza.
But Morris stood tall and the Oil was able to weather the storm.
“Riley had a big game and he came up huge tonight for us,” Oilers coach Tyler Deis said.
It was some bad déjŕ vu for the Bandits. Morris blocked 40 shots in a 2-1 victory over the Bandits in the first game of the season on Oct. 16 in Brooks.
Saturday night’s victory at the Pason improved the Oilers record to 3-1, as Okotoks opened their two-game homestand with a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the Camrose Kodiaks in front of 795 fans at the Pason Friday.
The Oil hit the ice for the third period down 5-3 but rattled off three straight goals in the opening eight minutes of the final stanza for the victory.
DeGraaf, who had four points in the game, got things started with a goal 1:43 into the period to make it 5-4. Beers created some cheers when he tied the game five minutes later. The game-winner came from rookie Kyle Gordon, who picked up his first career goal in the AJHL with 12:15 left in the game.
“We knew we had to come hard and fast and that we needed three to win,” the 17-year-old Gordon said. “To be honest, I didn’t see it go in. It was just hard work by me, (Regan) Doig and (Jordie) Lawson, just to win the puck.
“It got to Lawson, he got me the puck and I just put it five-hole. It felt really nice to get that first one.”
Deis said it was a character win.
“Not quitting and just fighting back, it was good,” Deis said. “I told them (between the second and third period) to have better puck management, not so many turnovers. We outshot them 14-3, we were able to throw more pucks at the net.”
The Oilers were down 3-1 after 20 minutes with Lawson scoring for Okotoks.
The two squads exchanged a pair of goals in the second stanza with Tanner Laderoute and Reece Soukoroff scoring for the Oil.
Morris picked up the win, but he admitted he struggled in facing 22 shots.
He would more than make up for that the next night against Brooks.
“I wanted to refresh myself and just get a new start for today,” Morris said.
The Oilers played the Calgary Mustangs Sept. 27 but results were too late for the Western Wheel’s publication deadline.
The Oil head to Camrose this weekend for the annual AJHL Showcase in which all the teams will play to show their skills to scouts from colleges to the pros.
They will play the Sherwood Park Crusaders and the Lloyminster Bobcats, Thursday and Friday respectively.
For more information go to okotoksoilers.ca
