WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Drop Second Straigh Shootout To Medicine Hat

November 14, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - The Edmonton Oil Kings will have to wait for the their first ever regulation win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. Edmonton native Tyler Ennis scored a late powerplay goal and followed up with another goal in the shootout as the Tigers escaped Rexall Place with a 3 - 2 win over the Oil Kings. That's back to back shootout victories for Medicine Hat in the home and home series and Edmonton is 0-8-1-3 lifetime against their arch rivals.

"We didn't win and it doesn't feel too good right now." Stated Oil Kings Head Coach Steven Pleau. "It was a good game. We played good games against them for 2 years now and we don't find ways to win. We played well, we just have to make some better shots in the shootout. To me that's what it came down to in both these games. They made good and we didn't."

The Oil Kings had a some bad luck to start the game and the Tigers opened the scoring about 6 minutes into the hockey game as a result. Brennan Bosch lead the rush for the visitors and came busting down his off-wing. His backhand didn't get through a crowd in front but his second effort to centre the puck bounced off defenseman Adrian Van de Mosselaer's skate and past a helpless Torrie Jung. Bosch's 9th of the season put the visitors on the board.

One of the best chances for the Oil Kings to tie it up came on the powerplay a couple of minutes later. Brent Raedeke slid a pass through the crease to Tomas Vincour who was waiting on the doorstep but he was absolutely robbed, point blank by St. Albert native Tyler Bunz.

Edmonton had a couple of 2 on 1's later in the period for great scoring chances. The first one Craig McCallum tried to slide a pass under a the defenseman to Rhett Rachinski but that was broken up. The second chance Brent Raedeke held on to the puck and tried to roof one short-side but Bunz stood his ground.

The Oil Kings had the jump in the second and grabbed the momentum with a couple of early powerplays. They cashed in at 4:42 with an aggressive forecheck in the offensive zone lead by Jeff Lee and Brent Raedeke. Raedeke fed a puck to T. J. Foster in the slot and he wasted no time blowing a shot by Tyler Bunz on the glove side. Foster's 4th of the year tied the game at one.

The game was pretty even in the third period with chances at both ends of the rink. Finally, the Oil Kings patience was rewarded just as their 7th powerplay expired. Brett Breitkreuz made a power forward drive to the net on the back hand and delivered a sweet drop pass into the slot for Brenden Dowd who one-timed it top shelf into the far corner past Bunz. Dowd's 9th gave the Oil Kings the lead with half a period to play.

The turning point came when rookie Rhett Rachinski was nabbed for a hooking penalty with 92 seconds to go in regulation time. That set the stage for Ennis. He jammed home his team leading 11th of the season on the doorstep. Linden Vey and Zdenek Okal picked up the assists. That tied the game at 2 and set the stage for the dramatics in the shootout.

Brennan Bosch and Tomas Vincour were both stopped as they tried a backhand deke to the glove side. Ennis was up next and pulled off a double deke and then rolled a back hand up and over the stretched out pad of Torrie Jung to give the Tigers the edge. Brenden Dowd tied the shootout with a nifty backhand to the 5-hole of Tyler Bunz. Tristan King was the hero for the Tigers with a shot that trickled through the 5-hole of Jung for the game winner.

Edmonton's record slips to 9-12-1-3. The Tigers are on a 4 game winning streak and their record improves to 12-7-2-2. The busy weekend for the Oil Kings continues as they will play 3 games in 3 nights in 3 different cities. They're in Cranbrook to play the Ice Saturday followed by their first game of the year against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sunday.

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Western Hockey League Stories from November 14, 2008


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