A promising start turned sour for the Okotoks Oilers on Tuesday night.
The Brooks Bandits scored in each of the first two periods and added three insurance tallies in the final frame to shutout the Oilers 5-0 in Game 3 of the BCHL Alberta Division semifinal on Tuesday night at the Centennial Arenas to earn a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Okotoks had the edge in territorial play and on the shot clock for most of the opening frame, but it was the opportunistic visitors who struck first.
Brooks centre Caelan Fitzpatrick’s shot deflected pat Okotoks’ Christian Green with 2:08 left in the period during four-on-four action.
The Bandits doubled the advantage with rookie Josh Wiebe cashing in on an odd-man rush with Parker Lalonde playing provider with 5:49 left in the second period.
Brooks sniper Nathan Free added his third goal of the series at the 8:34 mark of the final frame for a key insurance tally with Danylo Korzhyletskyi and Keith McInnis rounding out the scoring in the late stages.
Johnny Hicks made 30 saves for his second shutout of the series.
Game 4 is Wednesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. at Centennial Arenas.
The Oilers have a fan bus in place for supporters to take in Game 5 in Brooks on Friday, April 26.
The bus departs at 4:45 p.m. and it’s a $50 cost to get a seat.
Game day tickets and fan bus ticket information can be found at tickets.okotoksoilers.com.
Series schedule
Game 1: April 19, Oilers at Bandits. Brooks wins 4-0
Game 2: April 20, Oilers at Bandits. Okotoks wins 5-2
Game 3: April 23, Bandits at Oilers. Brooks wins 5-0
Game 4: April 24, Bandits at Oilers.
Game 5: April 26, Oilers at Bandits.
Game 6: April 28, Bandits at Oilers.
Game 7: April 30, Oilers at Bandits.
*All games are 7 p.m. starts
For more, go to okotoksoilers.com.
