Clark's Hat-Trick Leads Oilers Past Swamp Rabbits
January 8, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release
GREENVILLE, SC - It had been 14 months since Emerson Clark skated at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville. Against his former team, Clark picked up a hat-trick in his return, leading the Tulsa Oilers to a 6-2 win over the Swamp Rabbits.
Tulsa scored the game's first goal for the third time in four games on the current road trip. Shawn Bates batted a loose puck into the net out of a goal-mouth scramble on an Oilers' 5-on-3 power play. The Swamp Rabbits tied the game before the first intermission, when an Oilers clearing attempt was picked off and Trevor Gerling was left all alone in front of the net. Gerling slid a shot through the legs of Tulsa goaltender Colin Stevens with 37 seconds left in the period.
Clark scored his first goal late in the second period to give the Oilers a 2-1 lead. Darcy Murphy set him up on a 2-on-0 rush, before Clark slid a backhander past Greenville goaltender Mackenzie Skapski. Danick Gauthier made it 3-1 just under two minutes later, when Murphy set him up with a centering pass and Gauthier tapped it in with his backhand, as Tulsa led by two goals after two.
Murphy set up Clark again with 2:34 to play to give the Oilers a 4-2 lead. It was Murphy's third assist of the game. Tulsa added an empty net goal from Garrett Ladd to bump the lead to three goals, before Clark finished his hat-trick on a short-handed breakaway with 1:01 remaning. Stevens stopped 24 of 26 shots in the victory.
The Oilers are halfway through their season-long eight game road trip, and next head to Kalamazoo, MI for a Wednesday night battle with the Wings. The game will be the only meeting between the two Central Division Teams, with puck drop scheduled for 6pm CST from the Wings Event Center. Catch all the action on www.tulsaoilers.com or ECHL.TV (away feed), with coverage starting at 5:45.
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