For the second time in three weeks the Oilers left the Smoke Eaters trailing behind.
The Okotoks Oilers rallied for three third period goals to upend the Trail Smoke Eaters by a 4-2 count Saturday night at the Viking Rentals Centre for their second win in two meetings with their new Interior Conference foes.
“We had a gameplan,” said Oilers captain Jackson Rowland on the comeback. “We wanted more pucks to the net, more shots and to get on their D-men and it just worked out for us.”
With the Oilers trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes, the rally started with Hunter Sawka converting in the slot off a sublime behind the net feed from linemate Brock Souch.
The playmaker then turned finisher with a well-placed wrist shot through a screen to give the hosts their first lead of the game.
“I had a chance to shoot about five seconds before that and (Cyle) Clayton made a good play over to me,” Souch said. “Sawka had a good screen there and I just picked my corner.”
Rowland completed the scoring with a powerplay tally in the late stages, ending a challenging night on special teams with Trail striking twice for shorthanded goals on a high note. Olivier Ciarlo made 32 saves to earn his 10th win for the Oil.
“We just wanted to stick to our game,” Souch said. “Didn’t want to change too much, we were playing well. Those two penalty kill goals for them hurt us and it was good to get one back there on the powerplay and we stuck with it in the third period.”
Okotoks (10-13) improved to 8-4 at home this season, two of the wins coming at the expense of a high-octane Smoke Eaters team that sits fourth in the Interior.
“It’s super important, we want teams in the league to know that we come hard and we’re here to play so those are two big wins against Trail,” Rowland said. “They’re fast and they’re aggressive and they’re big so we try to battle them as hard as we can and beat them to the net.”
On Friday, the Oilers dropped their first meeting of the season with the Spruce Grove Saints by a 7-3 score. Sawka, Joey Meredith and Jamie Hikida scored for the visitors in a feisty game featuring three fights and a combined 56 penalty minutes.
A rivalry that has built over the years, only extenuated from last year’s BCHL play-in round.
“They’re a hard, fast team and super aggressive,” Rowland said. “They hate us, we hate them so I’m excited for the next game.”
Okotoks and Spruce Grove meet again on Friday, Dec 13 at the Viking Rentals Centre in the Oilers’ last home game before the holiday break. The Oil are in Sherwood Park the following night to complete the weekend schedule.
For more information, go to okotoksoilers.com.
