The Drumheller Dragons faced off against one of the best teams in Canada and the AJHL tonight. It was the first matchup for the season between the Dragons and the Okotoks Oilers.
Both teams came out with a strong start in the first period. Okotoks opened up the scoring with 3:40 left in the first when Ben Sanderson scored to make it 1 – 0 Oilers. Drumheller answered back less than a minute later when Andrew Kartusch scored his third of the year from Brady Risk and Brayden Nicholetts. Okotoks out shot Drumheller 9 – 4 in the period but it was a strong period for both teams.
In the second, Okotoks put on the pressure. Special teams came into play as the Oilers scored on the power play at 8:25 when Blake Wells found the back of the net. Okotoks capitalized on a fortunate bounce of one of the linesmen to create a two on one opportunity. Carson Beers scored on the power play with under 8 minutes left in the period. Okotoks increased their lead on an unfortunate ricochet off of a Dragons defensmen that wound up in the net. Nick Blankenburg got the credit for the goal. Drumheller made it 4 – 2 Okotoks when they potted one on the power play. Jordan Taupert got the goal from Dawson Bruneski and Markus Boguslavsky. Okotoks added another before the second period buzzer when Ben Sanderson scored his second of the night to make it 5 – 2 Oilers.
Drumheller outplayed Okotoks in the third period and made a game of it. Brett Wieschorster scored his first in the AJHL from Dawson Bruneski to make it 5 – 3 Okotoks. Late in the period, Drumheller got a power play and also pulled Hunter Virostek for a 6 on 4 advantage. Jordan Taupert scored his second of the evening from Brett Edwards and Tyler Kreklewich. Drumheller came up just a bit short with the final score being 5 – 4 Okotoks.
Viterra Stars of the Game
Okotoks – Ben Sanderson
Drumheller – Jordan Taupert
Shots on Goal
Okotoks 28
Drumheller 27
Power Play
Okotoks 2/6
Drumheller 2/4
Next action for the Dragons is against this same squad in Okotoks on Saturday. The game will be on 99.5 drum fm with the Western GM pre game show starting at 6:45pm with puck drop at 7:00 with Jason Blanke.
Jason Blanke
Morning Show Host – 99.5 DRUM FM
Office: 403.823.9936
www.DrumhellerOnline.com