WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Edmonton Oil Kings Fall 7 - 1 To Visiting Saskatoon

Published on February 4, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings have dreams of clinching their first playoff berth in franchise history this season, but for the second straight game, third periods have become a bit of a nightmare.

Down 2-1 to the visiting Saskatoon Blades heading into the third period, the East Division's top team scored four goals in a 5:48 span to open the third.

Two of those goals were short-handed as they cruised to a 7-1 win over the Oil Kings in front of 4,711 at Rexall Place Wednesday night.

"I don't think I could've been more optimistic heading into the third period. I thought we were ready to go out there and win a hockey game," said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau.

"We couldn't execute on the power play and all of a sudden they come down to our end and it's in our net and bing, bing, bing, bing."

The Blades showed in a big way, why they have yet to lose in regulation when holding a lead heading into the third period. They improved their record to 28-0-2 with their five-goal third period outburst.

The duo of Travis Toomey and Curtis Hamilton proved to be deadly combination in the special teams department in the final frame.

They each scored a short-handed marker in the third, then connected with a power play goal when Hamilton found Toomey for a cross-crease pass at the 10:57 mark to give the Blades a 7-1 lead.

The Oil Kings power play looked impressive through the first two periods. Co-captain Brenden Dowd cut the Blades lead to 2-1 when he blasted his team leading 23rd goal of the season just over 12 minutes into the second.

Edmonton had a golden chance late in the second with a two-man advantage to tie the game, but they came away empty handed.

"When we went over (the power play) at the end of the second period we had them running around, we had great power plays, we had good shots," said Pleau.

"That's what got us back in the game, but we bobble the puck when we have them biting on the low play, and it ends up in our net.

"Our penalty kill wasn't good, but I thought our power play executed."

The Oil Kings were outshot 12-1 in the opening period, but goaltender Torrie Jung stood tall to keep the game scoreless.

However the Blades took a quick two-goal lead, courtesy of forward Walker Wintoneak who struck twice on the power play in a 2:10 span.

The 19-year-old batted in a bouncing puck from in the slot to open the scoring just 2:22 into the second period.

He later tipped in a point shot from Sherwood Park product and 2008 first round bantam pick Duncan Siemens at the 4:32 mark.

It was Siemens first WHL point in just his second career WHL game.

The loss drops the Oil Kings record to 23-28-2-4, but they remain tied for the eighth and final playoff spot with the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders.

After missing the chance to move up the Eastern Conference standings with back-to-back losses against the East's top two teams in Saskatoon and Calgary , Pleau isn't giving up the hope of clinching a playoff spot.

Despite the third period breakdown, the Oil Kings didn't back down and continued to show a strong work ethic. After the Blades made it 6-1, Oil Kings rookie forward Michael Burns dropped the gloves in a spirited fight with Darian Dziurzynski.

"Look at what Michael Burns did. He showed he wants to be part of this group," said Pleau.

"After that fight, he played the best five or six shifts he's had this year, and I am proud of him."

For Burns, who's been going though a tough rookie season with just one goal and three points this season felt it was something he had to do.

"I wasn't happy with my play so far. Our team just gave up those two quick goals and I wanted to get something going. I thought there wouldn't be a better time to do it than now," replied Burns, who was sporting a cut on the left side of his forehead.

"I think it got me into the game, I was ready to go, I was fired up and ready to work hard."

The Oil Kings head out on the road for a pair of games this weekend to wrap up this 4 games in 5 nights stretch. That's part of 7 straight games on the road before returning for their next home game 3 weeks from now February 25th against the Red Deer Rebels. That's another Weiner Wednesday featuring $2 hot dogs all night long.

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2009


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