When the Okotoks Drillers last came to Innisfail on Oct. 24 they built a 4-0 lead after the first period.
The Eagles wanted to reverse that on Nov. 14 when the Drillers returned to Innisfail. And the Eagles did make a huge first period improvement. They skated hard and had plenty of chances, outshooting Okotoks 9-5. The Birds headed into the dressing room after 20 minutes with a hard earned 2-2 tie against the swift skating Drillers.
With that extra confidence, the Eagles dug in early in the second period. At 17:04, Mike Wiril scored his second goal of the game on the power play and the Eagles had a 3-2 lead. The Drillers' Tyler Mcnabb scored an unassisted goal at 10:38 and it was tied up again.
But the Eagles' Peter Vandermeer scored on another power play at 8:22 and then Wiril got his hat trick with just under a minute to play in the second frame. The Eagles had a 5-3 lead going into the third.
But a badly needed win for the Birds was not in the cards. Just after halfway in the third, Okotoks took advantage of two Eagles' penalties and scored twice in 13 seconds, the first by Clinton Pettapiece at 8:57 and then Mike Kneeland at 8:44. It was tied once more.
And Okotoks came on again with under four minutes to play. Kyle Croxall put the Drillers ahead 6-5 with an unassisted goal at 3:56 and 49 seconds later Pettapiece scored his second of the game to make it 7-5. That was the final score. The Drillers outshot the Eagles 29-24 in the game.
The Eagles are now sitting in fourth place in the five-team Chinook Hockey League standings with two wins and five losses. Innisfail's next game is at home on Nov. 21 against the Stony Plain Eagles.
