Ben Walker scores his fourth goal in four games. (photo by: Kevin Pyle – www.photopyle.com)
It was a Sunday to remember as the Oilers defeated the hottest team in the ECHL and broke the Missouri Maverick’s 14-game winning streak inside the BOK Center, 4-3. Emerson Clark and Dan DeSalvo led the team with a goal and an assist each.
The Oilers put their penalty kill to the test early in the first but were unsuccessful. A puck, that Kevin Carr was sure he had stopped, snuck its way through the five-hole and inched over the red paint exactly one minute into the period. To even the score at 1-1, Oilers’ forward DeSalvo stripped the puck off the stick of Missouri’s Trevor Ludwig for a quick goal and a well-deserved celebration on the ice.
Heavy action in front of Carr on his tenth consecutive start led to another Mavericks goal by center Sebastien Sylvestre and Missouri took back the advantage to finish the first.
Mid-second period Ludwig went to the box and Emerson Clark caught a rebound to slap in for the power play goal and tied things up again, 2-2.
Sunday night Ben Walker proved his hair is not the only thing on fire. A crisp pass by forward Brian Nugent assisted in Walker’s fourth goal in four nights.
The second frame finalized with the Oilers breaking their shots on goal record of the season for a single game in just two periods with 33 (more than doubling Missouri’s 14).
Tulsa faced one of the biggest third periods they’ve played all season. A power play was gifted to the Oilers for 25 second before the call on Matt Konan’s stick holding. The 4-on-4 play resulted in a Missouri goal (3-3 by Tanner Fritz).
Hope was not lost and the through traffic goal at 12:32 for Mathieu Brisebois from Konan and Clark sealed the fate for both teams. The Oilers would put a strike through the streak of Missouri’s with a 4-3 final score.
The Oilers shot a season high of 41 and advanced their record 10-10-1-1. Tulsa will return to the BOK Center this Friday and Saturday to battle against the Wichita Thunder in back-to-back contests.
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Below is an Excerpt for a Tulsa Oilers Game
Jeff: Here’s a shot on goal. Wide to the goal in the Tulsa end. Into the corner. Now along the boards down low they sent it out in front. The Oilers clear it away. Remember, Oilers are playing shorthanded. Wichita with a man advantage. It’s 4 on 3 now with this overtime. There’s 2 minutes left to go in this overtime period. The Thunder bring it back over the blue line into the Tulsa zone. Oslansky sends it into the corner. Around the boards it goes to the far point. Kept in there by Gottier. Over to Oslansky on the left point. He steps to the center slot. Gottier back to Oslansky. Left circle for Miller. He tried to give it to Oslansky and it goes out of the zone. The Thunder are going to have to reset. Their fans didn’t like that. I did.
Only a minute left to go in the power play here for the Thunder. Now off the boards on the far side out to the point. Miller. Oslansky. His shot. Late pad save by Carr. Off his late pad, he’s going to smother it for a face off. We’ll reset the scene here. You got 43 seconds left in the penalty to Wong. 43 seconds left in the power play for Wichita. A minute 23 left to go in the overtime period. In total 1:23 left to play in the overtime. Tied at 1. Face off to the right of Carr into the Tulsa end. Out comes Lutz. Now to the blue line. Kept in there by the Thunder near the corner boards. Along the boards to the nearest side. Miller with it again. Miller into the slot. It’s shot. It went off of carr’s stick off the glass. Stayed in play. Now bounces back in the net. Carr freezes it on the back of the goal net.
We’ll have 27 seconds left in the Wichita man advantage … Face off to the right at Carr. 1:07 left to go in the overtime period. Puck comes out in the neutral zone. After it is Nelson. Nelson for Wichita recovers at his own blue line. Puck checked away. Oilers with it. Here’s a breakaway and on goal a backhander and a kick save. Nice play by Nugent to steal the puck away at the blue line. Shantz is going to freeze it for a face off, but Nugent stole the puck at the blue line. It was as if it were a shootout. Nugent stepped in on goal and took a nice shot on goaltender Shantz, but Shantz was able to make the save.
Now we’ve got a face off to the left of Shantz. 11 seconds in the penalty to the Oilers’ Wong. Face off in the Wichita zone. Thunder with a 4 on 3 man advantage. Now they clear it out to the neutral zone. Picked up there by Miller. He comes in over the blue line. Brandon Wong comes out of the penalty box. Oilers at full strength. Shot on goal. It’s 4 on 4 now. Puck goes off of Carr’s stick this time off the mesh, out of play. We’ll get a face off in the Tulsa end. There is 35 seconds left to play. 35.4, to be exact, left in the overtime.
The face off will be taken to the right. The goaltender Carr in the Tulsa end on the stoppage of play. We go back to 3 on 3 hockey. 3 on 3 out there right now in the overtime. Under 30 seconds left to play. Tulsa with it in the neutral ice. Brown with it on the left side. Brown drops it off to a teammate Harstead. Now down low to DeSalvo. Around the boards it goes to the near side. Harstead picks it up for Tulsa. Harstead on the right point. Harstead gets it to DeSalvo. 6 seconds. We’re running out of time in the overtime. Puck along the boards on the near side. Miller and DeSalvo. Now the horn sounds. Overtime is done. We’ve played 65 minutes of hockey, and we’re going to go to a shootout here tonight in Wichita, fans.
