NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Dropped in Portland

November 2, 2014 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


EDMONTON, ALTA. - The U.S. Division continues to be unkind to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Oil Kings (9-6-0-2) lost their fourth straight game Sunday night in a 3-1 decision to the Portland Winterhawks (7-10-0-2) in Portland.

Edmonton put in a stronger offensive output than in previous losses to Seattle and Everett, but again struggled to convert on their chances despite outshooting Portland 33-19. It was a performance head coach Steve Hamilton felt deserved a better fate.

"The results didn't match our efforts," he said. "I thought we worked extremely hard tonight. We had a game plan that we wanted to execute, and our guys worked hard to accomplish it.

"I want to continue to outwork teams. I have to believe we're going to turn the corner a little bit offensively. We're committed to this thing together. We don't always like the results, but I was pleased, and as a team we were pleased about how hard we competed tonight."

The Winterhawks took the lead 12:13 into the first period as the Oil Kings turned the puck over at their own blue line and Blake Heinrich found Dominic Turgeon behind the Edmonton defence.

Portland made it 2-0 just after a power play expired in the middle of the second period as Evan Weinger deflected a high slap shot from Keoni Teixeira past Tristan Jarry. Portland struck again on the power play with just 8.2 seconds left as Chase De Leo pounced on a rebound and tucked it into the Oil Kings net.

In the third period, the Oil Kings came out flying, outshooting Portland 13-1 in the period, but unable to beat Michael Bullion more than one time in the Winterhawks net.

"We knew we needed to pressure their back end. We wanted to keep the puck out of the hands of their forwards," Hamilton said. "Offence doesn't come easily for us. We needed a couple tonight and couldn't find the handle on some pucks."

Brandon Baddock snapped the shutout for the Oil Kings with 5:55 to play in the third period, ending a span of 124:50 without a goal for Edmonton.

Bullion made 32 saves for the Winterhawks for his first career WHL win, while Tristan Jarry turned aside 16 shots in a losing effort. Portland finished 1-6 with the man advantage, while Edmonton was 0-4 on the power play.

Edmonton will wrap up the U.S. portion of their road trip Wednesday as they pay a visit to the Tri-City Americans.

Check out the Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...

Western Hockey League Stories from November 2, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central