The Okotoks Oilers used up one of their games in hand on the Camrose Kodiaks on Monday night when they met the resurging Calgary Royals at the Father David Bauer Arena in Calgary and they added another W to the win column after defeating the Calgary Royals 5 to 3.

 Scoring for the high scoring Oilers were Derek Rodwell, Kyle Reynolds and the hat trick by John McInnis.

 The Oilers start the scoring early in this game on a goal from forward Derek Rodwell scoring his 15th. goal of the year at the 22 second mark of the first period. The Oilers jump out to an 8-0 shots on goal advantage but the Royals tie the game on their first shot on goal at 12:37 by Royals forward Simon Skrudland for his 10th. of the season. Shortly after that, Oilers goaltender Michael Matyas stops the Royals on a penalty shot. Okotoks then do a great job in killing off an interference penalty to Kyle Reynolds and the period ends with the score tied and the Oilers outshooting the Royals 12 to 5.
 
 The Calgary Royals run into penalty trouble to start the second period and the Oilers take advantage and score at 1:07 of the second period on the powerplay on a goal by Kyle Reynolds, his first since coming back from an injury and 17th. of the year. An odd man rush by the Oilers results in an unassisted goal by John McInnis at 10:14 on a shot from the left boards and the Oilers jump out to a 3 to 1 lead. McInnis's goal was his team leading 28th. goal of the year. John McInnis scores his second of the game, also on a powerplay at 16:53 on a quick pass from behind the Royals net and bing, bang, it's in the net and a 4 to 1 Oilers lead. The Royals end up outshooting the Oilers 11 to 10 in the period but get outscored 3 to 0.

 Penalties continue to plague both teams in the third period but the penalty killers prevail early on. The Calgary Royals get a couple of wacks at a loose puck to the left of Oiler goalie Matyas and it's Corey Scott who scores at 11:10 to make it 4 to 2. John McInnis completes his hat trick by scoring shorthanded on a breakaway at 14:03 for a 5 to 2 Oiler lead. At 15:04, an Oiler giveaway gives the Royals Steven Fernie a partial break on a powerplay and he scores on Matyas to close the gap to 5 to 3 but thats as close as the Royals get and the Oilers win 5 to 3. Oilers outshoot Calgary 14 to 10 in the period.
 

 Game Notes: James Bannister returned to the lineup after missing 40 games due to an injury and gets an assist. Oiler scratches were Matt Strong, Nolan Huysmans and Ben Gamache. Game star for Okotoks was John McInnis. Final shots on goals favored the Oilers 37 to 26. Oilers go 2 for 7 on the PP and the Royals were 1 for 8. Brandon Hoogenboom played in his 171 st. game as an Oiler and now takes over the team record for most games played, regular season. The old record was held by Justin Daigle at 170 games.

 Next up: The Oilers return home for a Tuesday night game against the Olds Grizzlys. A 7 p.m. start at the Okotoks Centennial Arena.