PHOTO: James MacLennan
Offense was tough to come by on Saturday night at the Spruce Grove Saints were shutout on home ice, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Okotoks Oilers at Thompson Family Arena.
Only one goal was counting in the opening period as the Oilers were first to crack the scoresheet with Grady Gustafon collecting his first career BCHL marker to give the visitors the opening lead. After a turnover behind the Saints net, Marko Lisica centered the puck in the slot as Gustafon had his first chance stopped before his second opportunity found the back of the net to push the Oilers to a 1-0 advantage.
Goaltending reigned supreme in the opening 20 minutes of play with Joseph Quintilio and Eric Young making impressive stops in the 1st period, including Quintilio stopping all 11 of the shots thrown his way before Young turned aside seven of the eight attempts thrown his direction.
The 2nd frame saw just about as much scoring as the opening period and a big missed opportunity for Spruce Grove as their first penalty shot of the season was stopped by Eric Young to keep the Oilers lead at a goal. Felix Haibock was hauled down making his way to the net and drew the penalty shot which was taken by Tre Peck, who deked to his backhand coming to the net from the left side but Young stuck his left pad out and kept the Oilers lead heading into the 3rd period.
The Saints struggled to find their game offensively as the Oilers did a terrific job at taking away time and space and not allowing much chance for the Saints to score or collect any offense. Okotoks took advantage of that late in the game by scoring a pair of empty net goals to finish off play with Jamie Hikida and Michael Kowalski finding the back of the net to make the game a 3-0 final.
Quintilio finished the game with 28 saves on 29 shots in his 3rd loss of the season while Young collected his first shutout of the campaign, making saves on each of the 18 shots thrown his way. The Saints are back in action on Friday night when they take on the Blackfalds Bulldogs at Eagle Builders Centre with puck drop slated for 7:00 PM.
