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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Beat Red Deer In Thrilling Shootout

September 27, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings are getting good at these comebacks. For the second straight game at Rexall Place, they managed to erase a 3 goal deficit. This time, Brent Raedeke scored a late goal and Brenden Dowd scored the shootout winner as Edmonton records the 5 - 4 thriller over the Red Deer Rebels. Hard work and perseverance was definitely rewarded as Edmonton set a franchise record with 55 shots on the night. They didn't get rattled after a rash of penalties to start the second period and rallied for their second win of the young season.

"A game like this is hard on our guys." explained Oil Kings Head Coach Steven Pleau "You go in after the second period and they're down but you've got to stay positive. We were playing well. We were running the show. We had a good game plan that we were executing. Yes we did take some penalties and they made us pay on the powerplay, but I thought on every other facet of the game, we were the better team."

"We don't know if some of those calls went our way or not but we can't use that as an excuse." said Oil Kings alternate captain Shayne Neigum who tallied a goal and an assist. "We've got to battle for the full 60 no matter what. We had a good visit in the intermission as a team and we went to work in the third."

The Oil Kings grabbed the early lead thanks to some pure determination from their top line of Brenden Dowd, Clayton Cumiskey and Brett Breitkreuz. They came at Rebels goalie Morgan Clark in waves and stormed the crease looking for a loose puck. Dowd eventually found one and stuffed in his third goal of the year to give Edmonton the 1 nothing lead. Dowd is on a 3 game point streak now with 3 goals and 3 assists in that span.

The Rebels tied it up later in the first period when the Oil Kings had a little trouble clearing their zone. Rebels defenseman Colin Archer didn't waste any time with his wrist shot from the point that made its way past a screened Dalyn Flette. It wasn't a hard shot, but it was accurate enough to tie the game at one.

The game unraveled a bit for the Oil Kings when a parade to the penalty box started at the end of the first period. Drew Nichol took a roughing minor at the end of the period which gave Red Deer a 5 on 3 powerplay to start the second period on fresh ice. Then Edmonton didn't have much luck when Tyler Hlookoff's clearing attempt sailed over the glass resulting in a delay of game penalty 6 seconds into the period. If that wasn't unlucky enough, Adrian Van de Mosselaer took a cross-checking minor at the :20 second mark resulting in a lengthy 2 man advantage for the visitors.

It took them 32 seconds to cash in. Tommi Kivisto's point shot sailed well wide but the rebound off the end boards ended up right on the stick of William Coetzee. His second of the year made it 2 - 1. A minute and 13 seconds later, Cody Gross had some time and space in the slot to roof a wrist shot for another 5 on 3 powerplay goal. Then just another :42 seconds later, Cass Mappin buried his first of the season on the powerplay and all of a sudden, it was 4 - 1 Red Deer.

The score stayed that way for a while even though the Oil Kings carried the play and were severely outshooting the Rebels for most of the game. Edmonton finally caught a break just over 6 minutes into the third period. Defenseman Brandon Lockerby made a nice play keeping the puck in the offensive zone and fired a high wrist shot on net that fooled Clark. Lockerby's first of the season from Rhett Rachinski and Shayne Neigum gave the home team the extra boost they needed.

A few minutes later, the Oil Kings scored one of the nicest goals of the season that was the result of a sweet passing play. Tyler Hlookoff made a nice play to keep the puck in at the point. Brenden Dowd followed that with a terrific backhand pass to Clayton Cumiskey in the slot. Cumiskey zipped a pass to Shayne Neigum for a tap-in goal on the doorstep. That made it 4 - 3.

The tying goal came on a nice rush. Tomas Vincour chipped the puck into the offensive zone for Jeff Lee who looked like he was going to cycle the puck all the way behind the Rebels net. He fooled everybody by centering the pass, short-side and spotted a wide open Brent Raedeke who found the 5-hole on Morgan. Raedeke's first of the year set the stage for overtime and eventually the shootout.

In the shootout, Landon Ferarro and Craig McCallum traded goals to start the showdown. Tomas Vincour roofed his shot to give the Oil Kings the edge. The Rebels Brennan Wray responded by tucking one through the 5-hole of Flette. Brenden Dowd made a nice deek and tucked a backhand on the 5-hole of Clark for the game winner.

The exciting win improves the Oil Kings record to 2-2-0-0 on the season. The busy weekend continues with the second half of the home and home series with the Rebels Saturday night in Red Deer. That'll be followed up by a game in Cranbrook against the Kootenay Ice to finish off a 4 game in 5 night stretch. The next home game is set for a Friday October 3rd. It's Mullet Night at Rexall Place. The first 2500 fans will receive a free mullet when they come to the game. Don't be late.

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