OKOTOKS, AB (April 7, 2024) — Despite a three-assist effort by Owen MacNeil (Calgary, AB), and a two-goal performance from captain Dean Spak (Calgary, AB), the Okotoks Oilers dropped a 4-3 decision on the road against the Spruce Grove Saints on Sunday afternoon to conclude their 2023-24 regular season.
Brennen Hocher (Calgary, AB) also scored his first BCHL goal for Okotoks, which fell to 38-28-3 on the season and officially finished in fourth place in the BCHL Alberta Division standings.
The Oilers fell behind 2-0 midway through the first period off back-to-back goals by Saints forwards Ethan Sundar and Ryder Matter on net-front tips. Jed Magarrell tacked on a third goal in the final minutes of the opening frame with a point shot through traffic to give Spruce Grove a 3-0 lead.
Just over three minutes after Hocher got the Oilers on the board at the 5:34 mark of the second period with a wrist shot from the left side, Stephen Kirkpatrick answered right back for Spruce Grove with what ended up being the decisive goal of the game, tapping home a rebound of an Ethan Sundar wrister off the rush.
The Oilers managed just four shots on goal in the third period but were able to score on two of them. First, Spak got the Oilers back within two goals with just over five minutes remaining in regulation time as he tipped home a centering feed from MacNeil. Then, Spak scored his 22nd of the year in his final regular-season game with the Oilers, taking a feed from across the slot from Jagger Tapper (Calgary, AB) and flipping a forehand shot home to make it a one-goal game.
That was as close as the Oilers would get. Over the full 60 minutes of play, Spruce Grove outshot the Oilers 30 to 24. Oilers goaltender Mikael Kingo (Burlington, ON) stopped 26 of 30 shots he faced in the defeat.
With the Oilers’ up-and-down 2023-24 regular season now in the books, the playoffs are next on the docket. Sunday’s game was just a tune-up for what’s to come when the Oilers take on Spruce Grove in the 4-vs-5 play-in round of the BCHL Alberta playoffs.
The Oilers are slated to play host to the Saints for Game 1 of that series on Wednesday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m. MT. Secure your Oilers playoff tickets now at tickets.okotoksoilers.com.
