OILERS KNOCK OFF RAPID CITY IN FINAL GAME OF HOME STAND
Tulsa defeats short-handed Rush 5-2 Tuesday at the BOK Center and hits the road for five straight against Rapid City and Utah.
TULSA, OK – 2019 is off to a good start for the Tulsa Oilers (19-12-6), who finished a four-game home stand with a 5-2 win over a short-handed Rapid City Rush (15-18-5) Tuesday at the BOK Center. The win was Tulsa’s third in four games to start the new year and sixth victory in the last seven games. The Oilers end the night in a tie for first place in the Mountain Division.
The Oilers grabbed an early 6-0 shots advantage, but Rapid City scored on its first shot of the game, a deflection off the stick of Shaquille Merasty on a Rush power play. Tulsa tied it at 1-1 when Alex Globke cleaned up a rebound and lifted the puck past Tyler Parks. Ian McNulty gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead after stepping into the zone and blasting a shot into the net from the point. Parks stopped 16 of 18 attempts in the opening frame, while Oilers goaltender Devin Williams made five saves on six shots in the period.
Charlie Sampair gave the Oilers a brief two-goal cushion when he followed up his initial shot which was blocked and buried a quick snap-shot into the back of the net. Late in the middle frame, Merasty deflected another shot in front of the Oilers net for his second goal of the game to bring Rapid City back to within one. Tulsa’s shots advantage over the Rush, who played two-men short, grew to 30-11 through 40 minutes.
Tulsa made it 4-2 in the third, when Scott Henegar raced in behind the defense and lifted a shot under the crossbar, and Tommy Mele scored the fifth goal on a backdoor pass from Alex Kromm. The Oilers outshot the Rush 45-19, as Williams won for the sixth time in his last eight starts.
The Oilers and Rush hit the road and head up to South Dakota for a pair of games Friday and Saturday at 8:05pm CT at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City. Catch all the action on the Sports Animal radio network in Tulsa, www.tulsaoilers.com or ECHL.TV, with pregame coverage starting at 7:45pm CT.
—
Season and Group Tickets are on sale now by calling the Oilers front office at 918-632-7825. Visit www.tulsaoilers.com for more information.
—
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram , or “Like” us on Facebook for more information about the Tulsa Oilers.
#TulsaTime
