Tulsa Oilers Playoff News and Notes
April 7, 2014 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release
Opening Round Playoff Series
Denver Cutthroats (2) vs. Tulsa Oilers (7)
Game 1 - Fri., Apr. 4 - Denver at Tulsa, 7:35pm (TUL def. DEN 4-3)
Game 2 - Sat., Apr. 5 - Denver at Tulsa, 7:35pm (DEN def. TUL 4-2)
Game 3 - Wed., Apr. 9 - Tulsa at Denver, 7:00
Game 4 - Fri., Apr. 11 - Tulsa at Denver, 7:00
*Game 5 - Sat., Apr. 12 - Tulsa at Denver, 6:00
*Game 6 - Tue., Apr. 15 - Denver at Tulsa, 7:05
*Game 7 - Thu., Apr. 17 - Tulsa at Denver, 7:00
*If necessary
* All games in Tulsa listed in Central Time, all games in Denver listed in Mountain Time
Series Even At 1-1: Playoff hockey returned to Tulsa last Friday night for the first time since 2011 and the Oilers earned a 4-3 victory over the Cutthroats in Game 1 of their first round series. Ryan Menei scored the game-winning goal with 1:24 remaining in regulation and led all skaters on the evening with three points (2 goals, 1 assist). Rookies Adam Pleskach and Blair Macaulay tallied their first professional playoff goals and goaltender Shane Madolora made 21 saves to record his first playoff win. Denver leveled the series on Saturday night with a 4-2 win in Game 2 thanks to a third period hat-trick from CHL MVP Garett Bembridge. The Cutthroats right-winger scored three goals in the span of 6:14 and registered a total of four points (3 goals, 1 assist) to power his team past the Oilers. Denver forward A.J. Gale chipped in four assists while Ben Gordon scored both goals for Tulsa.
Migrating to the Mile High City: The next three games of the series are slated for the Denver Coliseum where the Cutthroats boasted the CHL's best regular season home record at 22-6-5. The Oilers visited Denver on the opening weekend of the season and went 0-1-1 in a pair of games against the Cutthroats. In the season opener on October 18, the Oilers dropped a 4-1 decision and suffered a 3-2 loss on October 19 that was decided by an 18-round shootout. All-time, Tulsa is 1-2-1 in Denver and the Cutthroats are 0-2 all-time in home playoff games.
Top Form: Tulsa's line of Ben Gordon, Ryan Menei, and Adam Pleskach has combined for 12 of the team's 17 points in the first two games of the series against the Cutthroats. The trio is +11 over the first two games and has accounted for five of the six Oilers goals. In Game 1 on Friday, each member of the line finished with multiple points and in Game 2 on Saturday, each forward registered a +2 rating. With five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in two games, Menei is tied for the CHL playoff scoring lead.
Power Play Silenced: Despite generating shots and scoring chances, the Oilers are 0-for-8 on the power play in the series with the Cutthroats. Going back to the regular season, Tulsa has failed to capitalize on 23 consecutive power play opportunities against Denver and is only 2-for-31 overall on the man-advantage in eight total games with the Cutthroats.
Big Night for Bembridge: After scoring just one goal in six regular season outings against the Oilers, Cutthroats' forward Garett Bembridge recorded a natural hat-trick in the third period on Saturday night. During the regular season, the Oilers allowed only two hat-tricks to opposing players. On November 23 in Allen, Americans rookie Alex Lavoie found the net three times but the Oilers prevailed for a wild 10-8 win. On December 28, Allen defenseman Tyler Ludwig scored three third period goals to lift the Americans to a 7-4 victory over Tulsa.
The Patterson Puzzle: In three regular season outings against Denver goalie Kent Patterson, the Oilers were only able to muster a total of six goals on 99 shots. Patterson posted a .939 save percentage and registered a shutout on his way to a 2-1-0 record against Tulsa. However, on Friday night in Game 1, the Oilers scored four times on Patterson in just 26 shots. Patterson, a 2007 draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche, became much stingier in Game 2 with 32 saves on 34 Tulsa shots to help his side pick up a 4-2 victory.
The Meaning of Game 1: In their franchise history, the Oilers have earned seven victories in Game 1 of a playoff series including Friday night's win over Denver. In the six previous series, the Oilers are 3-3 when winning Game 1.
Oil Drops: The Oilers are 3-4 all-time in best-of-seven playoff series and have not won a best-of-seven series since 1994 when they defeated the Oklahoma City Blazers in the CHL semi-finals...Craig Cescon leads all Tulsa defensemen with a +3 rating through two playoff games...The Oilers are allowing an average of just 22.5 shots on goal in the first two games of the series.
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