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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Bruce Hat-Trick Leads Oil Kings Past Warriors

November 3, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings erased an early 2-0 deficit on Friday night to defeat the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-5 in an exciting back-and-forth contest at Rogers Place.

The Warriors got off to a hot start scoring twice in the opening seven minutes to put the Oil Kings on their heels.

Martin Rysavy opened the scoring less than a minute into the game on a nice give-and-go with Atley Calvert and that was followed up by Pavel McKenzie notching his second goal of the season after settling a pinballing centering pass and firing it to the back of the net at the 6:57 mark.

The Oil Kings were able to regain their footing midway through the opening stanza thanks to a pair of quick goals from Skyler Bruce.

Bruce got his first of the night at 10:30 of the first period after driving home a backdoor pass from Marc Lajoie from the right-circle and then just 1:49 later he took a cross-seam pass from Adam Jecho in the left-circle and made no mistake wiring in the equalizer.

Both teams kept the offence coming in the second period as they combined for five goals.

The Warriors restored their lead just 2:42 into the middle frame courtesy a power play goal from Brayden Yager as he was able to roof a shot from the right-circle of the Oil Kings zone.

The lead would be short-lived for the Warriors as the Oil Kings tied the game at three just 1:46 later on a great individual effort from Rilen Kovacevic as he raced onto a loose puck in the offensive zone, danced around a Moose Jaw defender to create a partial break for himself and then chipped the puck up over the shoulder of Jackson Unger for his fourth goal in as many games and his team leading ninth of the year.

The Oil Kings than took their first lead of the game with just over eight minutes left in the period after Landon Hanson was able to setup Cole Miller on the doorstep of the Moose Jaw net for his first of the season on what was a great hardworking effort from all three members of the line including Roan Woodward.

With just 2:25 left in the period, the Warriors took their turn to level the score as Jagger Firkus broke into the Edmonton zone and zipped a shot off the far post and in from the right-circle.

Only 39 seconds later though the lead was Edmonton's again after Kovacevic turned in an exceptional defensive zone play to thwart a potential Moose Jaw scoring chance, Marshall Finnie raced back the other way and on a two-on-one rush, he elected to keep and shoot from the right-circle going short-side top-shelf over the blocker of Unger for his sixth of the season to give his Club a 5-4 lead at the second intermission.

The Oil Kings would get some breathing room 6:33 into the third period as just as an Edmonton power play expired, Marc Lajoie ripped a snap-shot past Unger from the left-circle for his second goal in as many games.

The Warriors got another power play goal From Yager in the late stages to get it back to a one-goal difference but Bruce capped the night with his first career hat-trick hitting the empty net with just 1:50 left in the contest.

Kolby Hay finished the night making 22 saves for the Oil Kings to record his fourth win of the season, while Unger turned in 31 stops for the Warriors. Edmonton went 0-for-2 on the power play, Moose Jaw was 2-for-6.

Next up, the Oil Kings welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to Rogers Place this Sunday, November 5 for a special 6:00 P.M. start to a Family Fun Sunday.

The Edmonton Oil Kings next home game is Sunday, November 5 at 6:00 P.M. when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to Rogers Place.

The Oil Kings are Edmonton's first choice for family fun with great seats starting at $20 and season seats for as low as $9 per-game for an entire season of thrilling WHL action!

Head to OilKings.ca to secure your seat today!

Check out the Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from November 3, 2023


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