WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Fall 6 - 3 To the Prince George Cougars

Published on October 17, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Edmonton, AB - It's a case off good news, bad news for the Edmonton Oil Kings. The good news is they've been scoring enough goals lately. The bad news is they've been giving up a lot too. The goals were coming in bunches Friday night as the Prince George Cougars scored a couple of quick ones in the first and a pair of goals in the third period to pull out a 6 - 3 win at Rexall Place. Airdrie, Alberta native Dana Tyrell had 2 goals and an assist as the Cougars snapped out of a 3 game losing skid.

"We've got to plug away." stated Oil Kings Head Coach Steven Pleau. "It's a long year and I believe in this team. This is a good hockey team. They are receptive, they work, they compete, they're good kids and there's no way I'm placing any doubt here. We talked about d-zone structure for the last 3 days. I know we gave up 6 goals but it was there. Our structure was solid. Sometimes hockey teams get in these funks. I've been there before. I told our players you can do 1 of 2 things: you either keep driving through it or you stop. If you stop, you won't get rewarded."

The Oil Kings have now allowed 18 goals in their last 3 games and certainly miss the presence of veteran defenseman Drew Nichol and Adrian Van De Mossealaer who are both sitting out with injuries.

"They are a big part of our defense this year." said Oil Kings defenseman Brandon Lockerby. "It's unfortunate that they're hurt and we miss them right now. But at the same time, it's an opportunity for young guys to step up. We need both our defense and our forwards to step up right now."

The game started out with a bang, literally Cougars defenseman Dallas Jackson stepped up in the neutral zone and caught Craig McCallum with his head down as he tried to collect a pass that was in his skates. The devastating hit drew immediate attention from Oil Kings rookie Jesse Pearson who challenged Jackson to a fight at centre ice. The two combatants helmets were off before they were event 20 feet from each other. Pearson was given the instigator penalty allowing Prince George the first powerplay of the game.

"It looked like a pretty big hit." described Pearson. "Somebody had to do something. He's our team mate. We have to stick up for each other so I stepped in. I don't know what happened. I didn't really see him (Brett Breitkreuz who was also about to challenge Jackson). I guess I saw him at the beginning but he didn't have his glove dropped so I just went in there."

It didn't take the visitors long to connect with the man advantage. 19 seconds into the powerplay, Parker Stanfield centered a pass from the corner that went off Dalyn Flette's stick as he tried to steer the pass away. The fortunate bounce gave the visitors the early lead.

They didn't even finish announcing that goal on the public address when the Oil Kings responded. Prince George turned the puck over at the face-off dot in their own zone. Tomas Vincour pounced on the loose puck and then roofed a shot top shelf on the glove side as he caught Joe Caligiuri cheating to one side. Vincour's 4th of the year and 3rd goal in his last 4 games tied it at one. That was just 16 seconds after Prince George opened the scoring.

The next goal came just 13 seconds later as both teams combined for 3 shots on the game's first 6 shots. Ryan Kowalski was the fore-checker down low for the Cougars. He slid a pass from behind the net to Colby Kulhanek in front who tucked a quick shot in on the short side. 3 goals in a blistering 29 seconds and it was 2 - 1 for P.G. heading into the break.

It seemed to take forever to get the game's next goal compared to the first three. Prince George widened the gap on the scoreboard with a goal off the rush. Tampa Bay Lighting second round draft pick Dana Tyrell made a nice backhand pass to Brett Connolly who had a yawning cage for his 4th of the season. That made it 3 - 1 about midway through the hockey game.

Prince George caught a break about 3 and a half minutes later while they were killing a penalty. Some miscommunication and a turnover in Edmonton's zone turned into a 2 on 1 for the Cougars. Marek Viedensky set up Dana Tyrell for his 5th of the season. The goals started coming in bunches again.

Edmonton capitalized on that same powerplay. Tyler Hlookoff was about the hash marks and worked the puck back to the point for Brent Raedeke who wired a shot that missed the mark. The rebound went to the corner where Tomas Vincour was waiting for it. He had a wide open net to bury his 5th of the season. That goal was exactly 30 seconds after the Cougars goal. Edmonton was not going to give up that easily.

The Edmonton powerplay is vaulting up the standings with 8 powerplay goals in their last 3 games and it's the main reason that got them back into this game. Their third goal was a booming shot from the point from Brandon Lockerby that Brenden Dowd was able to tip in for his 7th of the year. Brett Breitkreuz had the second assist and Lockerby extended his point streak to a season high 6 games.

Prince George had the jump in the third period and re-gained their 2 goal lead just a few minutes into the final frame. Brian Matte drove hard to the net and was even taken down by the Oil Kings defense but he managed to squeeze one past Dalyn Flette before the net was dislodged. That made it 5 - 3 with lots of time left on the clock.

Edmonton pulled the goalie for the extra attacker early but the move ultimately backfired and ended up with Dana Tyrell potting an insurance goal into the empty net for a 6 - 3 final. Cougars goalie Joe Caligiuri played great down the stretch for Prince George and ended up with 37 saves for the win.

Edmonton's record slips to 5-7-1-0 while the Cougars improve to a surprising 7 - 4 start. Next up for the Oil Kings will be another Minor Hockey Night. The Calgary Hitmen are here Sunday and it also happens to be Team Poster Night. Everyone will get a poster sized Oil Kings Team Calendar when they come to the game. It's also the second afternoon game of the year with the puck drop scheduled for 2 p.m.

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Western Hockey League Stories from October 17, 2008


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