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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Explode in Third Beating Kootenay 6-3

February 3, 2016 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Tuesday night in Cranbrook should be labeled a tale of two teams.

Just over 48 hours earlier the Edmonton Oil Kings were celebrating a dominant 6-2 win over the Kootenay Ice. But for the first 40 minutes tonight they just couldn't hit their stride and found themselves down 3-1.

Enter period number three. Typically Edmonton scores less in the third period than the first or second, but tonight it was all about denting the twine. Brandon Baddock, Lane Bauer, Tyler Robertson, Ben Carroll and Jesse Roach scored five unanswered goals and the Oil Kings cruised past the Ice by a 6-3 final.

"We just couldn't seem to get the engine sparked consistently in the first couple of periods," explained Oil Kings Head Coach Steve Hamilton. "We kept setting the table for them in their transitions. But I asked the guys for their input in the second intermission and four or five of them spoke up with things we could tweak. They sort of grabbed hold of that and ran with it. This win was driven by the hard work of those 20 guys."

The Oil Kings got on the board first (and are 16-6-2-1 when doing so) when rookie Colton Kehler scored his 11th unassisted on a breakaway tucking it past Ice netminder Declan Hobbs. The Port Coquitlam, BC native now has 11 goals and 6 assists on the season.

Kootenay took charge from there as Matt Alfaro started things with a very rare 5-on-3 shorthanded breakaway goal. Jesse Zaharichuk scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second frame giving the Ice a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.

The Oil Kings got things going in the third applying pressure and captain Baddock fired one past Hobbs while on the powerplay. The goal was Baddock's 20th of the season and broke his previous career-high mark of 19, which was last season.

Hamilton talked about the thankless job Baddock has game in and game out.

"His job is to stand in front and bang home goals," said Hamilton. "He does a great job of that. It's not a fun job but he does it really well."

Baddock continued to do it so well that he screened Hobbs on Robertson's powerplay goal, which was the eventual game-winning marker.

The Oil Kings actually scored four goals in 2:34 seconds in the third and starting goaltender Payton Lee only had to stop five Ice shots that period - and 16 overall - to even his record to 7-7-2-0 with Edmonton this season.

Brett Pollock also chipped in with two helpers and now has 99 career assists in the WHL. The Oil Kings (22-23-6-1) now sit 7th in the Eastern Conference; two points ahead of the 8th place Regina Pats and seven points up on the 9th place Medicine Hat Tigers.

Edmonton will enjoy the mini two-game sweep of Kootenay before traveling west to Kamloops for a date against the Blazers on Saturday night. Game time is 6pm. Catch the play-by-play with Corey Graham on TSN 1260.

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