Hodnett's Last Second Goal Lifts Oil Kings over Americans
Published on January 17, 2026 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release
Edmonton, Alta. - A back-and-forth affair took all 60 minutes on Saturday night at Rogers Place as the Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Tri-City Americans 5-4.
While a scoreless first seemed to set the table for a low scoring game, the Oil Kings and Americans turned things up in the second period as Edmonton held a 2-1 lead. Goals came from Miroslav Holinka and Kanjyu Gojsic while Tri-City's marker came from Savin Virk.
Offence opened up again in the third as the team's traded goals. Jakub Vanecek scored a powerplay goal less than a minute into the third to tie the game 2-2. Gavin Hodnett scored 30 seconds later to make it 3-2.
The goal was also Hodnett's 200th career WHL point, making him the sixth Oil King to reach the milestone in team history.
Vanecek would score another powerplay goal to tie the game again for Tri-City as the score ballooned to 3-3 not even five minutes into the third period. A the 9:08 mark of the third, Andrew O'Neill would restore the Edmonton lead to 4-3, one they would hold until the final three minutes of the game.
Crew Martinson tied the game for the Americans at the 17:13 mark, leaving the possibility of overtime very open. But Hodnett had other ideas as he tipped home a Carter Sotheran shot with 7.8 seconds left in the third period to give the Oil Kings their 30th win of the season.
Lukas Sawchyn had four assists in the game, his first career four-point night.
The Oil Kings outshot the Americans 30-21 in the game and were 0-for-3 on the powerplay, and the penalty kill was 3-for-5.
Edmonton is in action against Regina on Wednesday.
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