OILERS END WEEK ON HIGH NOTE, TRAVEL TO IDAHO FOR ROAD-TRIP TRIO
After losing back-to-back games to start the weekend, the Oilers earned their first shutout of the season of Sunday.
OVERALL RECORD: 16-21-2-0 (35 points, 7th in Mountain Division)
LAST WEEK: 1-2-0-0
RESULTS
Friday, Jan. 10 – Kansas City 5, Tulsa 1 (BOK Center – Tulsa, OK) | Box Score
>> TULSA, OK — The Oilers dropped their second-straight contest on Friday, losing to Kansas City 5-1 at the BOK Center. Adam Pleskach opened the scoring early, deflecting Miles Liberati’s point shot past Tyler Parsons 2:39 into the game. The goal put Pleskach in a three-way tie for the team lead in goals with 11, and the power-play tally gave Liberati nine points in his last eight outings. Kansas City’s captain Rocco Carzo deflected a point shot from point-blank range, tying the game at 1-1 6:00 in. Former Oiler Terrance Amarosa walked down to the left circle, popping another past Olle Eriksson Ek, giving the Mavericks their eventual game-winning goal with 1:14 remaining in the opening period. David Dziurzynski deposited his seventh of the season just 1:45 into the second period, extending the Kansas City lead to 3-1. Bryan Lemos walked into the slot 1:10 later and ripped a shot past Eriksson Ek, giving the Mavericks a 4-1 stranglehold on the game. Rocco Carzo scored his second of the night in highlight-reel fashion, corralling a through pass from C.J. Eick before freezing and outwaiting Eriksson Ek to close out the scoring. In total, Parsons stopped 33 of 34, cutting the season series to 3-2 in Tulsa’s favor.
Saturday, Jan. 11– Utah 5, Tulsa 3 (BOK Center — Tulsa, OK) Box Score
>> Tulsa, OK — The Oilers hopped out to an early 3-0 lead, but eventually fell 5-3 to Utah at the BOK Center on Saturday night. Utah’s Dalton Mills picked up the puck on his own left-wing boards before attempting to spin it of the zone, but the SPHL call-up lasered the puck to Oilers’ forward Ian McNulty’s stick, allowing the forward to snipe Martin Ouelette blocker side. The goal was the lone tally of a period that saw zero penalties and a 14-save performance from Devin Williams.
Robby Jackson gave Tulsa a two-goal lead, sniping the puck past Ouelette on a five-minute power play, courtesy of a Garrett Klotz ejection. Jackson’s St. Cloud teammate Jacob Benson scored his first as an Oiler 57 seconds later at the 2:42 mark, batting the puck out of the air and past Ouelette, pushing the game to 3-0. Griffen Molino wouldn’t allow his team to be buried, dancing through all five skaters before popping a short-handed goal through the five hole of Devin Williams, bringing the game to 3-1 at the 4:05 mark of the frame. Jack Jenkins cut the lead down to 3-2 with a power play tally of his own 4:12 later. Yuri Terao held the puck up at the point before cutting down to the slot and ripping one through Williams, tying the game 3-3 at the 8:39 mark of the period. Terao out did himself 6:01 later, flying around the Oilers’ zone with the puck before roofing it in-tight over Williams. The goal was originally waved off, but Andrew Wilk reviewed the footage, giving the Grizzlies their rightful and first lead of the game.
Ty Lewis scored the lone goal of the final frame, receiving a pass as he exited the box before snapping the puck short side past Olle Eriksson Ek, who replaced Devin Williams during the second intermission.
Sunday, Jan. 12 – Wichita 0, Tulsa 1 (BOK Center — Tulsa, OK)| Box Score
>> Tulsa, OK — The Oilers earned their first shutout of the season, beating Wichita 1-0 at the BOK Center on Sunday to bring the season series 5-4 in Tulsa’s favor. The opening frame was different than the last two games, with neither team finding the back of the net. Evan Weninger turned aside all 13 shots, while Olle Eriksson Ek stopped five pucks. Both goalies steered aside double-digit chances in the second period — Eriksson Ek saved 12, and Weninger stopped 13 out 13 pucks sent his way. Both teams had two power-play opportunities, but neither unit could strike the back of the net. The third period was more of the same, the Oilers couldn’t convert on the lone power play of the frame, and both goalies remained perfect through regulation. Ian McNulty, — who scored the opening goal in Saturday’s game — opened and closed the scoring 2:25 into overtime, popping home a rebound created by a slot shot from Cam Knight. The goal gave the Oilers their first overtime win of the season, dropping Wichita to 4-7 in the extra frame in the process.
THE WEEK AHEAD (all times CST)
Wednesday, Jan. 15 – Tulsa AT Idaho 8:05 p.m. – CenturyLink Arena (Boise, ID)
Friday, Jan. 17 – Tulsa AT Idaho 8:05 p.m. – CenturyLink Arena (Boise, ID)
Saturday, Jan. 18 – Tulsa AT Idaho 8:05 p.m. – CenturyLink Arena (Boise, ID)
FAST FACTS
· Miles Liberati has 10 points in his last 10 games
· Ian McNulty scored the opening goal on Saturday and Sunday, giving the forward his first point streak of the season.
. No player on the Oilers has more than two game-winning goals
. Adam Pleskach leads the ECHL with 150 shots
. Tulsa was the only team to score on Wichita this weekend, ending a 184-minute shutout streak.
TEAM TRENDS
· Tulsa has reclaimed the league lead in shots on goal with 36.54/game
. Tulsa won in overtime for the first time this season on Sunday, improving to 1-2 in the extra frame.
. Tulsa is 5-3-0-0 in 1-goal games this season.
. The Oilers have an identical number of power plays and penalty kills (151)
STATISTICAL LEADERS*
POINTS: 33- J.J. Piccinich
GOALS: 12 –Robby Jackson
ASSISTS: 24– J.J. Piccinich
PLUS/MINUS: +9 – Charlie Sampair
PIMS: 96 – Mike McKee
PP GOALS: 3 – Miles Liberati, J.J. Piccinich, Adam Pleskach
SH GOALS: 1– Jared Thomas, Mike McKee
GW GOALS: 2 – Miles Liberati, Ian McNulty, Cory Ward, Robby Jackson, Adam Pleskach
SHOTS: 154– Adam Pleskach
WINS: 10 – Devin Williams
GAA: 2.74 – Devin Williams
SAVE %: .905– Devin Williams
* – Among active players
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY: Overall – 23/151 (15.2%) – 17th in the ECHL
Last Week – 3/10 (30%)
PENALTY KILL: Overall – 124/151 (80.4%) – 14th in the ECHL
Last Week – 6/8 (75%)
