OKOTOKS, AB (October 11, 2024) — Otto Hanson (Calgary, AB) led the way with a pair of goals as the Okotoks Oilers defeated the Prince George Spruce Kings by a 6-3 final score at Viking Rentals Centre on Friday night.
Hanson’s two goals were also his first points as a member of the Oilers since being acquired from the Blackfalds Bulldogs in an offseason trade. The 2006-born forward tallied in the final minutes of both the first and second periods to give the Oilers extra momentum heading into the intermission breaks.
Logan Broten (Chaska, MN), Ryder De Nys (Canmore, AB), and Joey Meredith (Toledo, OH) also scored their first goals of the season for Okotoks, which improved to 2-5-0 on the year with the victory. Oilers captain Jackson Rowland (Calgary, AB) sealed the deal late in the third period with an empty-net goal, his fourth tally of the season.
Oilers goaltender Olivier Ciarlo (Laval, QC) stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced on Friday en route to being named the game’s second star. Hanson and Meredith were recognized as the first and third stars, respectively.
The Spruce Kings opened the scoring on Friday at the 4:11 mark of the first period when Ethan Montroy converted on an early power play. However, it took just over a minute for Broten to respond with a bomb from the point that beat Prince George netminder Carter Wishart.
After Hanson made it 2-1 late in the first, the Spruce Kings tied the game early in the middle frame when Trent Ballentyne capitalized off a miscue in the Okotoks zone. However, the Oilers rattled off three consecutive goals in just over four minutes to conclude the period, with De Nys, Meredith, and Hanson all striking in succession.
Cooper Williams brought Prince George back within a pair at the 10:56 mark of the third period, and Prince George very nearly made it a 5-4 game shortly thereafter on a play that went through a lengthy video review process before being called ‘no goal’, but the Oilers sealed the deal with 40 seconds to play when Hunter Sawka (Cochrane, AB) set up Rowland to score into Wishart’s empty cage.
Next up, the Oilers will attempt to exact revenge on the Penticton Vees on Tuesday at the BCHL Showcase in Abbotsford after falling to them by a 5-1 score at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton back on October 4. The Oilers will play their next home game on October 20, when the Vernon Vipers come to town for the first time.
Recap: Mike Gould
Photo: Chad Goddard
