Encouraging but ultimately fruitless. That’s the way it’s going right now for the Okotoks Bow Mark Midget AAA Oilers after taking consecutive road losses to the top two teams in the South, highlighted by a 5-3 defeat to the top-seed Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sunday. “That was probably one of our best games in a long time,” said Bow Mark head coach Ken Plaquin. “The kids actually deserved to win the game, at the very least another tie. Sometimes referees make things difficult on you and we got into some penalty trouble late in the game. “Their powerplay did a good job of doing what they needed to do when they had a five-minute man-advantage.” Okotoks had a 2-1 edge on Lethbridge early in the final frame on goals from Alaister Standen and Jaevon Buschlen before a five-minute checking from behind major turned the game on a dime. Defenceman Daniel Lindeman was handed the misconduct and the high-octane Hurricanes, the reigning AMHL champions, scored twice on the ensuing powerplay through Zack Stringer and Michael Horon to take the lead. Buschlen got the Oilers back even with four minutes left in regulation only to have the Hurricanes storm right back at even strength and with an empty netter to steal the two points. “We got into trouble we didn’t really deserve to be in,” Plaquin said. “We outplayed them in a lot of ways, our goaltending was fantastic. We played really good defensively. We did everything really well. Sometimes the hockey gods don’t smile down on you. “Everybody thinks good things, but you still look at your wins and losses and it’s tough when you know you could be doing a lot better in the standings.” Okotoks opened the weekend Saturday in the city in a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Buffaloes. Sam Simard had the only goal in the loss. “We had some lapses and they took advantage of all those lapses,” Plaquin said. “We couldn’t score when we needed to which is kind of how it’s been going the last few weeks for us.” Bow Mark (5-6-3) gets back to home ice this weekend with a pair of non-division games with the BP Rangers, 3:45 p.m. on Nov. 17, and SSAC, 4:15 p.m. on Nov. 18, at Pason Centennial Arena. Captain Anson McMaster is expected to be back in the lineup this weekend after spending the past two weeks on a recall with the WHL’s Kootenay Ice. “We’re going to have to keep playing the way we did this weekend,” the coach added. “I think if we do that we’re going to find ways to win and we will be fine. We need to figure out how to do that really soon. “Use the home advantage and play a full game and we will be fine. “I have every intention of us winning both games this weekend.” For more information go to amhl.ab.ca
