BROOKS, AB (April 19, 2024) — Johnny Hicks stopped all 43 shots he faced as the Okotoks Oilers fell by a 4-0 score in Game 1 of their BCHL Alberta Division playoff series on Friday night.
The 2005-born goaltender was perfect between the pipes in his BCHL playoff debut, most notably turning aside all 17 shots the Oilers managed in the third period at Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks.
The Oilers suffered their first loss of the 2024 playoffs after sweeping the Spruce Grove Saints in three games to advance to face Brooks in the 1-vs-4 series. Prior to Friday’s game, the Oilers had yet to be shut out since joining the BCHL at the start of February.
Christian Green (Boothwyn, PA) stopped 33 of the 37 shots he faced for his first playoff loss as an Oiler. The 2004-born netminder is now 3-1 in the playoffs with a .904 save percentage.
Nathan Free opened the scoring for Brooks at the 3:41 mark of the first period. The Bandits capitalized off an inopportune turnover by Ryder De Nys (Calgary, AB), with Logan Sawyer setting up Free in the low slot for what would go into the books as the game-winning goal.
After Parker Lalonde made it 2-0 Brooks early in the second period, Sawyer and Hunter Wallace doubled the hosts’ lead with a pair of goals just 16 seconds apart later in the frame. Both goals came as the direct result of Oilers turnovers in the defensive zone, with Green being hung out to dry in his goal crease without much of a chance on either play.
The Oilers and Bandits both mustered up 17 shots on goal in the third period. Neither team managed to score. Hicks and Green capped off strong games by combining to stop 34 of 34 shots over the final 20 minutes of regulation time.
Brooks now leads the best-of-seven series one game to zero. Game 2 between the Oilers and Bandits will take place at Centennial Regional Arena in Brooks on Saturday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. MT.
The Oilers will host Games 3 and 4 of the series at Okotoks Centennial Arena on Tuesday, April 23 and Wednesday, April 24. Single-game tickets for both games remain available at tickets.okotoksoilers.com.
Recap: Mike Gould
Photo: Davin Beer/Brooks Bandits
