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ECHL Tulsa Oilers

Oil Drops: Tulsa Oilers Weekly Report

March 23, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, March 18 at Quad City Mallards (2-1 W) Watch Highlights

Saturday, March 21 at Wichita Thunder (4-1 W) Watch Highlights

Sunday, March 22 at Allen Americans (8-2 L)

THIS WEEK'S GAMES

Wednesday, March 25 vs. Allen Americans - 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, March 28 at Allen Americans - 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 29 at Wichita Thunder - 5:05 p.m.

TEAM CAPSULE

Overall: 33-26-1-3 (70 points)

Home: 17-13-1-1

Road: 16-13-0-2

Last 10: 7-3-0-0

Rank: 3rd in Central Division

TEAM LEADERS

Goals: Adam Pleskach - 34

Assists: Drew Fisher - 50

Points: Drew Fisher - 68

+/-: Drew Fisher, Jeff Jubinville +21

PIM: Tommy Mele - 200

WEEK IN REVIEW

Wednesday in Quad City, the Oilers picked up power play goals from Kyle Bochek and Adam Pleskach in a 2-1 win over the Mallards. Kevin Carr stopped 18 shots as the Oilers improved to 3-0-1 on the season at iWireless Center.

The Oilers' win streak reached six-games on Saturday with a 4-1 victory in Wichita. Jeff Jubinville netted a pair of goals and Drew Fisher added a goal and an assist to give the Oilers their ninth win in 11 games against the Thunder this season. Tulsa's penalty kill until successfully wiped away seven Wichita power plays and the Oilers allowed just a single goal for the fifth consecutive contest.

Tulsa's longest win streak of the season came to a crashing halt on Sunday in an 8-2 setback to the Allen Americans. Gary Steffes led the potent Allen attack with two goals and two assists while Chad Costello, the ECHL leader in points, recorded a goal, two assists, and a +5 rating. The Oilers surrendered their highest goal total of the season and suffered their most lopsided loss.

FUN WHILE IT LASTED

During the recent six-game win streak, the longest run of sustained success this season, the Oilers outscored the opposition 23-5 and used the momentum to climb to third place in the closely contested Central Division playoff chase. Rookie goalie Kevin Carr was in net for all six games and over the course of the streak, the 24-year old posted a 0.83 goals against average and a .971 save percentage. Jeff Jubinville led the Tulsa offense with seven goals and eight points during the six-game run. The streak is tied for the second-longest win streak of the Bruce Ramsay era (7 games in 2009-10) and despite Sunday's loss, the Oilers have still claimed victory in 12 of their last 16 games.

IN THE THICK OF THINGS

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Oilers are in sole possession of third place in the Central Division. Tulsa trails second-place Rapid City by a single point and holds a one-point advantage over fourth-place Quad City. The Oilers have one game in hand on the Rush and two games in hand on the Mallards.

RAPID REVERSAL

The Oilers gave up more goals in two periods against Allen on Sunday (six) than they allowed in the previous six games (five). After combining for a +68 rating during their six-game win streak, the Oilers ended Sunday's debacle with a cumulative -29. The Americans handed the Oilers their worst loss since December 27, 2013, an 8-2 setback to the Wichita Thunder at the BOK Center.

NEW BLOOD

To add depth to the roster and to make up for a rash of recent injuries, the Oilers signed four players last week from the college ranks. Defenseman Steven Hoshaw, a California native out of American International College, played in all three games last week and registered an assist in his pro debut against Quad City. Justin Mansfield, a product of Merrimack College, debuted on the Tulsa blue line on Saturday in Wichita and saw shifts at defense and forward in Sunday's tilt against Allen. Forward Phil Brewer, a former Bemidji State University teammate of Jeff Jubinville and Drew Fisher, recorded an assist in his first pro game at Wichita on Saturday, and forward Stephen Perfetto, fresh off a four-year career at Lake Superior State University, notched assists in each of his first two games as an Oiler.

SPECIAL TEAMS SURGE

Through eight games in the month of March, the Oilers have seen dramatic improvement in their special teams units. Tulsa is operating at 22.5-percent on the power play in March (7-for-31), well above its season average of 15.5-percent. The Oilers have six power play goals in their last four games and have scored on the man-advantage in four consecutive contests. The penalty kill unit has erased 27 of 30 opposition power plays over the last eight games, a 90-percent success rate. The recent rise has pushed the Oilers up to 23rd in the ECHL on the penalty kill at 80.3-percent for the season.

LIVIN' IN THE RED

Three of Tulsa's next four games are against the Allen Americans including a home-and-home set this week with a Wednesday face-off at the BOK Center and a Saturday trip to the Allen Event Center. The Oilers are 5-8-1 against the Americans this season and two clubs will finally conclude their 17-game season series on March 31 in Tulsa. The Americans have outscored the Oilers 66-50 and are averaging 4.7 goals per game against Tulsa.

CLOSING IN

The Oilers need just one more victory to equal their win total from last season and two more victories to tie the highest win total (35) of Bruce Ramsay's tenure as Head Coach. The franchise record for wins in a single season was set during the 1999-00 campaign when the Oilers won 38 games under the guidance of Head Coach Shaun Clouston.

EXTRA DROPS

Drew Fisher, the Oilers leader with 69 points, is just two assists shy of 100 for his career and will play in his 200th professional game on Sunday in Wichita...Defensemen Jake Obermeyer and Eric Tallent are on the 21-day injured reserve list while forwards Matt Larke and Brady Ramsay remain on the ECHL reserve list...Tommy Mele appeared in two games for the Oklahoma City Barons last weekend during his second AHL call-up of the season...T.J. Caig ranks fourth in the league with 10 power play goals.

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