ALLEN, TX – Mired in a five-game winless streak, the Tulsa Oilers traveled to Allen, Texas on Saturday night in need of a shot of confidence. What they produced was their best effort of the 2015-16 season, a 6-1 dismantling of the defending Kelly Cup Champions and an offensive explosion that was led by Adam Pleskach who recorded the Oilers’ first hat-trick of the season.
After an outburst of three goals in the third period on Friday against Missouri, the Oilers carried the offensive momentum into the first period in Allen. Just a minute into the contest, Emerson Clark feathered a pass to the tape of Dan DeSalvo and the Oilers’ rookie center banked a shot off sprawling Americans’ goalie Riley Gill to give the visitors the early 1-0 edge. At the 9:48 mark of the opening frame, Matt Konan’s slap shot from the top of the right circle was deflected past Gill by Adam Pleskach to give the Oilers a two-goal cushion. Pleskach, who led the Oilers with 41 goals last season, ended his 12-game scoring drought with his first strike of the season. Back-to-back penalty calls against the Americans led to a 5-on-3 power play for the Oilers and it didn’t take long to pad the lead. A wrist shot from the high slot from the stick of Konan sailed past a screened Gill to give the Oilers a 3-0 advantage and their second goal in the span of 67 seconds.
The Oilers showed no signs of slowing down in the second period as Pleskach buried his second goal of the contest just 30 seconds into the frame. Jordan Kremyr slid a pass across the Allen crease and Pleskach was there to stuff the puck under Gill’s pad to give the Oilers a 4-0 lead. Another strong shift from the Oilers’ trio of forwards – Brandon Wong, Christophe Lalancette, and Pleskach – resulted in Pleskach capping off his hat-trick from close range. Gill denied a chance from Wong but Pleskach elevated a backhand over the netminder’s pad for his third of the evening and a 5-0 Tulsa advantage.
Leading 5-1 in the third period, Clark capped off the Oilers best offensive night of the season by slicing through the Allen defense and flipping a shot over the glove hand of Joel Rumpel who had relieved Gill late in the second period. Clark scored his second goal in as many games and the Oilers cruised to their largest margin of victory this season.
Pleskach and defenseman Dennis Brown finished the tilt with three points while Konan (1g, 1a), Lalancette (2a), Clark (1g, 1a), and Wong (2a), all chipped in two points as the Oilers littered the stat sheet with impressive numbers. Carr made 19 saves to earn his third win of the season and give the Oilers a 3-2 edge in the season series against Allen.
The Oilers, who won for the first time in 18 days, will try to finish the weekend with five out of a possible six points when they take on the Americans at the BOK Center on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
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