ECHL Tulsa Oilers

Oil Drops: Tulsa Oilers Weekly Report - March 2

Published on March 2, 2020 under ECHL (ECHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


Tulsa left Rapid City with four out of a possible six points to leap-frog Rapid City into fourth place in the Mountain Division.

OVERALL RECORD: 28-26-6-1 (63 points, 4th in Mountain Division)

LAST WEEK: 2-1-0-0

RESULTS

Friday Feb. 28- Tulsa 6, Rapid City 3 (Rushmore Plaza Civic Center - Rapid City, SD) | Box Score

>> RAPID CITY, SD - Tulsa scored five unanswered goals at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Friday night, storming back to beat Rapid City, jumping past the Rush into fourth place in the Mountain Division The Oilers started with an early power play, something that has evaded them in recent outings, but the result was less than desirable. Tyler Coulter tipped a point-to-point pass to send himself on a short-handed breakaway. Devin Williams stopped Coulter's chance, but Stephane Legault followed up with his own chance, opening the scoring 5:41 into the game. The Oilers' next power play was much more fruitful. Tesink put the puck toward the net, allowing Danny Moynihan to roof a rebound over Tyler Parks with five seconds remaining on the man advantage, tying the game 1-1 8:50 in.Rapid City once again got out to an early start in the frame. Dane Birks scored the first even-strength goal of the game, stepping into a shot from the blue line and blasting it over Williams to give the Rush their second lead of the game just 2:17 into the second period. Peter Quenneville added to his team's lead a little more than 10 minutes later with a power-play goal of his own. The captain popped one past Williams at the 12:40 mark of the period, bringing the game 3-1 in Rapid City's favor. Tulsa's captain had an answer of his own. Miles Liberati found Adam Pleskach with a pass to the right-wing wall. Pleskach stepped into the circle before ripping a chance under the arm of Parks to cut the Rush lead to just one at the 17:10 mark. Tulsa tied the game just 1:39 later. Hunter Drew walked in from the blue line, cranking the puck toward Parks, who couldn't track a deflection made by a streaking Charlie Sampair. The goal was Sampair's 17th of the season and pulled the game even at threes with just 1:11 remaining in the second period Neither team could score in the first half of the final period, but Pleskach found the back of the net with 8:20 remaining in the game to give the Oilers three unanswered goals and their first lead of the night. Liberati then gave the Oilers breathing room, scoring at the 17:33 mark of the final period to give Tulsa a 5-3 lead over the Rush. Liberati stepped in from the point and sent a blast into the bottom-right corner of Parks' cage. Moynihan topped things off with a center-ice, empty netter with just 51 seconds left to close out the scoring, giving the forward both the first and last Oilers' goals on the night.

Saturday, Feb. 29 - Tulsa 4, Rapid City 8 (Rushmore Plaza Civic Center - Rapid City, SD) Box Score

>> RAPID CITY, SD - The Oilers lost 8-4 to Rapid City at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center on Saturday night, moving back into the fifth place in the Mountain Division. Rapid City scored on their first shot of the game. Keegan Howdeshell sniped Devin Williams top shelf to make things 1-0 2:14 into the game. Brent Gates scored his first of the game 17:33 into the first period, tying the game 1-1 at the conclusion of the opening frame. Tyler Coulter scored 6:32 into the period to give the Rush a 2-1 lead. Matteo Gennaro scored his third of the season 11:22 into the period to give the Rush a 3-1 lead. Coulter scored his second of the game 17:18 into the second period, extending Rapid City's 4-1 lead, and giving the Rush three goals on eight shots in the period. Howdeshell made things 5-1, scoring a beautiful "Michigan Move", lacrosse-style goal on Olle Eriksson Ek, the first shot the Swede faced since taking over for Williams. Gates answered with a second goal of his own, sniping Gordon Defiel in-stride on the short side to make it a 5-2 game. The three-goal deficit was quickly increased when Coulter completed his hat trick 53 seconds later at the 3:31 point of the final period. Gates netted with a hat trick of his own, hammering home a rebound on the power play with 12 minutes left to bring the game 6-3 in Rapid City's favor. Brennan Saulnier joined the 20-goal club at the 13:10 mark of the period, beating Eriksson Ek five-hole on the breakaway. Charlie Sampair scored for the second-straight game, tipping a Steven Ruggiero wrister past Defiel at the 14:36 mark, cutting the Rush lead to three once again. Gennaro ended the scoring with his second of the game at the 17:23 mark, an empty netter that was his fourth goal of the season.

Sunday March 1- Tulsa 6, Rapid City 3 (Rushmore Plaza Civic Center - Rapid City, SD) Box Score

>> RAPID CITY, SD The early-goal bug bit the Oilers for the third-straight contest. Rapid City scored on their second shot of the game, after scoring on their first chance the night before. It was Darian Romanko that found the back of the net this night, ripping one past Devin Williams less than two minutes in. It didn't take long in the second period to find a goal, either. Ian McNulty netted a backhand roofer over Alex Sakellaropoilos on a short-handed breakaway 1:35 into the period. Tulsa found themselves with a 2-1 lead just 2:08 later when Charlie Sampair flew down the left-wing wall before cutting in front of the net and squeezing the puck inside the left post for his 19th of the season. Brennan Saulnier tied the 2-2 with a highlight-reel worthy spin-o-rama goal 6:37 into the period. The Rush didn't take long to restore their lead, bringing the score 3-2 1:20 later when Ryker Killins finished off a two-on-one play to beat Williams. Exactly five minutes later during a four-on-four, Danny Moynihan, who leads the Oilers against the Rush in goals this season, backhanded a bar down effort into the Rush cage, knotting the game up 3-3 through two periods. Ryan Tesink scored the team's second short-handed goal of the game, forcing a turnover behind the Rapid City net before tucking a goal against his former team at the 5:51 mark of the final frame. Tulsa extended their lead to 5-3 with 5:40 remaining in the game. J.J. Piccinich tipped a Steven Kaunisto blast into the bottom of the net, extending Piccinich's point streak to five games. Moynihan finished off the night with his second of the night, an empty netter from Center Ice to give the Oilers a 6-3 victory.

THE WEEK AHEAD (all times CST)

Tuesday, March 3 - Allen AT Tulsa 7:05 p.m. - BOK Center

Saturday, March. 7- Tulsa AT Allen 7:05 p.m. - Allen Event Center

FAST FACTS

- J.J. Piccinich is on a five-game point streak

. Sunday's victory over Rapid City saw the Oilers score two short-handed goals in one game for the first time this season (Tesink and McNulty)

.Adam Pleskach leads the ECHL with 241 shots.

.Miles Liberati is tied for second in points among defensemen

TEAM TRENDS

- For the third-straight week, Tulsa sits atop the ECHL with a36.67 shot-per-game average.

. Tulsa is undefeated (5-0-0-0) when recording 50 or more shots

. The Oilers have points in three of the last four games in which their opponent has scored first

STATISTICAL LEADERS*

POINTS: 53 - J.J. Piccinich

GOALS: 21 -Adam Pleskach

ASSISTS: 41- J.J. Piccinich

PLUS/MINUS: +13- Charlie Sampair

PIMS: 122 - Mike McKee

PP GOALS: 8- Adam Pleskach

SH GOALS: 1- Jared Thomas, Mike McKee, Danny Moynihan, Jake Clifford, Ian Mcnulty, Ryan Tesink

GW GOALS: 3- Adam Pleskach Charlie Sampair

SHOTS: 241 - Adam Pleskach

WINS: 17 - Devin Williams

GAA: 2.77 - Devin Williams

SAVE %: .903- Devin Williams

* - Among active players

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY: Overall -34/217 (15.7%) - 20th in the ECHL

Last Week - 4/16 (25%)

PENALTY KILL: Overall - 194/232(83.7%) - 7th in the ECHL

Last Week - 13/16 (81.25%)

Check out the Tulsa Oilers Statistics

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