Edmonton Oil Kings Win Game 4 of 2022 WHL Championship Series

June 9, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL) News Release

Edmonton Oil Kings battle the Seattle Thunderbirds
(Edmonton Oil Kings)

The Oil Kings moved to within a victory of capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup, with Game 5 set for Saturday in the Alberta capital.

"It wasn't our best performance by any means, we struggled through some of the execution part of the game," said Edmonton head coach Brad Lauer.

"That's hockey sometimes, but we kept finding a way to sty in it. We had guys make the right plays at the right times, and Logan [Dowhaniuk] scored a big goal for us," Lauer added.

Seattle struck first with 3:57 remaining in the opening frame. Calgary Flames prospect Lucas Ciona found a rebound in front of Cossa, tucking the puck into the Edmonton net for his eighth goal of the post-season.

The Thunderbirds limited the Oil Kings to just five shots on goal in the opening frame, despite Edmonton earning nearly seven minutes of power-play time.

Oil Kings forward Josh Williams got the visitors back on track with a pair of markers inside the first six minutes of period two.

First, the Langley, B.C. product found a loose puck in front of the Seattle net, depositing a backhand into the cage. He snapped home his third goal of the 2022 WHL Playoffs two minutes later from the left circle to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead.

Again, Seattle's power play made things happen. Leading scorer Jared Davidson ripped a low shot through traffic and into the Oil Kings net from the left circle with 7:07 left in the second period to even the score at 2-2.

It was Davidson's team-leading 13th goal of the post-season.

Both goaltenders shrugged off late, quality opportunities in the second period. Milic denied Oil Kings import Jakub Demek on a redirect in front of the net, then Cossa stopped New York Rangers prospect Matthew Rempe with a glove save in the dying embers of the second period shortly after Davidson cranked a puck off the crossbar.

The 2-2 scoreline remained static through most of the third period, with Cossa denying Seattle forward Jordan Gustafson late and Milic parrying aside an effort from Oil Kings forward Carson Golder.

With less than ten seconds remaining in regulation time, the puck caromed free to Dowhaniuk, who unleashed a snapshot that found the top corner over Milic's left shoulder with 4.7 seconds left to play.

The Sherwood Park, Alta. product became the fourth Edmonton blueliner to score in the series.

"It just popped out to me, I honestly just shot it. I didn't really pick a spot or anything, I just put it on net and it went in," Dowhaniuk noted.

"That's playoff hockey, sometimes you don't always get what you deserve," Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette said after the game.

"Obviously there were things we could have done better to come out on top. We worked, we came to play, a disappointing ending but we did a lot of good things tonight," O'Dette added.

Cossa turned aside 32 shots for the Oil Kings, while Milic stopped 20 shots for the Thunderbirds.

Edmonton finished 0/2 on the power-play while Seattle was 2/4.

Game 5 is slated for Saturday, June 11 as the series returns to Edmonton (7:00 p.m. MT, Rogers Place, TSN4).

Both teams are undefeated in elimination games: Edmonton has won on all three occasions in which they can eliminate an opponent, while Seattle is 5-0 when facing elimination in the 2022 WHL Playoffs.

Edmonton Oil Kings battle the Seattle Thunderbirds

Western Hockey League Stories from June 9, 2022

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• Late Goal Puts T-Birds on the Brink - Seattle Thunderbirds
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• Edmonton Oil Kings Win Game 4 of 2022 WHL Championship Series - WHL

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