It’s a good news, bad news situation two weeks into the regular season. The Okotoks Oilers are having no problems putting the puck in the net, but after taking consecutive losses to the Camrose Kodiaks and Drumheller Dragons on their opening homestand the team’s play without the puck remains a work in progress. “Tough losses to take, but we learned a lot from them,” said Oilers captain Kyle Gordon. “I thought we played really hard and didn’t give them the wins for sure. “It’s early in the year, we have young guys on the back-end. Everyone is playing well, we’re playing right there with teams, we’re not folding over, it’s just our d-zone and our penalty kill, collectively forwards and defence, need to get better.” After spoiling the Kodiaks’ home opener seven days earlier in Camrose, the visitors returned the favour in pulling off the 4-3 overtime victory Friday in the Oilers first game at Pason Centennial Arena. Power forward Damon Zimmer forced overtime with a late-third-period tally and completed the hat-trick in the extra-session on an odd-man rush after Oilers netminder Nolan Hildebrand had just turned in a pair of 10-bell saves to keep the game going. Quinn Olson opened the scoring for Okotoks after Dylan Holloway took a massive hit and left the puck for his teammate to roof into the near corner. Ayden Roche-Setoguchi and Kaleb Ergang added the other markers for the hosts. Special teams paved the road for the Kodiaks, as they went 3-for-6 on the powerplay. “Our penalty kill wasn’t good enough and that’s why they won,” Gordon said. “If we would have stayed out of the box or been more intense on the penalty kill we would have given ourselves a way better chance to win.” The penalty kill was much improved the following evening, but the relentless puck pursuit of the Dragons powered them to the 5-4 victory on Saturday. Bradley Stonnell notched the game winner on a 2-on-1 rush with just under six minutes left in regulation. “I thought we got it taken to us in the first, a lot of penalties again,” said Oilers second year winger Marc Pasemko. “And in the second (period) we came out, put our heads down and went to work.” Olson, Zane Kindrachuk, Barrett Sheen and Pasemko scored for the Oil. Sheen’s second period tally on a backhander in the slot was his first as an Oiler while Pasemko potted his first of the season on a picture perfect breakaway in the final frame. “It’s a lot different than last year, we have a way younger team,” said Pasemko. “A lot of new faces and guys just need to get games under their belt and start feeling more comfortable and once we figure that out I think we will be fine. “We’re fine offensively, we’re scoring goals, we’ve just got to focus on keeping pucks out of our net.” Okotoks’ forwards can do more to help on the defensive side of the game, Gordon added. “It’s a team effort,” he said. “It’s making sure we pick up guys on the back-check, making sure we have a guy high to help the d-men out, we’re letting a lot of odd-man rushes whether it’s 3-on-2 or 2-on-1, a lot of that is on our forwards.” The Oilers (2-1-1) go back to Camrose for the annual AJHL Showcase this weekend with challenging contests on paper versus the defending league champion Spruce Grove Saints and the high-octane Whitecourt Wolverines on deck on Sept. 27-28, respectively. Okotoks’ next home date is Oct. 7 versus the Dragons. “In a way it’s not the worst thing, we didn’t see it (adversity) much last year,” Gordon added. “We won our first 10 games of the season. We will keep working hard in practice and our work ethic is just going to get better and better in the games. “I’m not too worried about our team yet, we’re still learning and we have 56 of 60 games left, there’s a long time ahead of us.” Three Stars * Kaleb Ergang. Most consistent Oiler in both games, was player of the game on Friday showcasing endless energy, silky smooth mitts on line with Kyle Gordon and Blake Wells. ** Marc Pasemko. You know what you’re getting from the speedy, relentless forward every night. Had an extra step on Saturday, highlighted by breakaway goal after forcing turnover in the neutral zone. ***Ayden Roche-Setoguchi. Best of the Okotoks defenders on the weekend, boasting a big physical presence with open ice hits and strong puck movement and shot on the powerplay.
