Edmonton, AB.: The Edmonton Oil Kings and the Kamloops Blazers went on a roller coaster ride on Friday night. The Oil Kings scored three times in the first period but the Kamloops Blazers scored the game's next four goals to go up a goal in the third period. Just when the comeback looked complete, the Oil Kings Brent Raedeke scored in the last minute to tie it up, but the Blazers rebounded with a goal from Jimmy Bubnick in overtime to win 6-5. "We got the early lead but sat back and let them into the game," said Head Coach Steve Pleau. "You have to have that killer instinct to put it away but we committed some costly turnovers in bad areas and their forwards made us pay."
The Oil Kings first period outburst included goals from rookies Devin Balness and Michael St. Croix. It was the fourth goal of the year for both players and it was the third game in a row St. Croix has found the net. His goal came while the Oil Kings were on the power play. Tyler Shattock, the Blazers top point getter, scored his 10th of the year between those two goals. Robin Soudek put the Oil Kings up 3-1 after one period with his third goal of the year.
Early in the second, Edmonton scored again on the power play when Mark Pysyk netted his third of the season. Tyler Hlookoff picked up his third assist of the game on the Pysyk marker. The Blazers got it going with a couple power play goals of their own from Bronson Maschmeyer and CJ Stretch to cut the Oil Kings lead to 4-3 after two periods.
The Blazers evened the score early in the third when Shane Wiebe got a goal on a two on one rush. The three goal Oil Kings lead was gone and it got worse. Edmonton native Brendan Ranford scored the on the power play to give Kamloops their first lead at 5-4. That stuck until the final minute of the game when Raedeke tipped a point shot from Pysyk into the net to send this one to extra time. The Blazers won it in overtime when Bubnick scored to make the final 6-5. Kamloops (9-9-2-0) snapped a seven game losing streak while Edmonton (7-10-1-3) picks up a point for the regulation tie.
The Oil Kings do not have a lot of time to reflect on the loss, as they play two games in the next two nights. Edmonton takes on the Chilliwack Bruins Saturday and the Vancouver Giants on Sunday.
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