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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Fall Flat in Saskatoon

February 4, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


Saskatoon, SK - The Edmonton Oil Kings (30-11-2-1) yielded three power play markers to the Saskatoon Blades (23-15-1-1) on Friday night as they dropped a 6-1 decision at the SaskTel Centre.

Despite dominating the opening 20 minutes, the Oil Kings found themselves down 2-0 to the Blades after one period of play.

Saskatoon goaltender Nolan Maier stopped all 16 shots he faced in the opening period and would get a pair of goals for some run support for his efforts just past the midway mark of the frame.

At 10:11 of the first period, Rhett Rhinehart opened the scoring as he converted on a cross-ice from Charlie Wright on a two-on-one rush.

Jayden Wiens extended the Blades lead with just under two minutes left in the period on a power play as he was setup for a backdoor tap-in on a Saskatoon three-on-one rush into the Oil Kings zone.

The Oil Kings were finally able to breakthrough on Maier 6:24 into the second period as Oil Kings captain Jake Neighbours walked into the high-slot and zipped a wrist shot over the right shoulder of the Blades netminder to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The Oil Kings pressed for an equalizer throughout the second period but could not solve Maier as he padded away nine more Edmonton shots.

The Blades would put the game away late in the second period as they rattled off three goals in a span of 2:54.

Kyle Crnkovic made it 3-1 Saskatoon as he blasted home a one-timer from the right-circle on a Blades power play at 16:36. Just 1:12 later, Kyren Gronick finished off a beautiful three-way passing play for yet another backdoor tap-in to stretch the lead to three. With 30 seconds left in the period, the Blades made it 5-1 with their third power play goal of the game with their captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere firing home a point shot.

Tyler Parr would make it half-a-dozen goals for the Blades just past the halfway mark of the third period as he elected to keep and shoot on a two-on-one rush with his shot beating Kolby Hay over the glove hand after the Edmonton rookie netminder replaced Sebastian Cossa to start the third period.

Cossa and Hay combined for 10 saves in the loss, while Maier turned away 38 of the 39 shots he faced. The Oil Kings went zero-for-two on the power play, the Blades were three-for-seven.

Next up, the Oil Kings head to Prince Albert to battle the Raiders at 6:00 PM (MST), you can listen to the game at oilkings.ca/radio.

NOTES:

Jake Neighbours is now on an eight-game point streak (6G, 9A).

Edmonton Oil Kings Season Seats, Flex-Packs, Weekend Passes and Single-Game tickets, for as low as $20 per game, are currently on sale at oilkings.ca.

The Oil Kings next home game is Tuesday, February 8 when they welcome the Regina Pats to Rogers Place at 11:00 AM for Hockey Hooky.

Check out the Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from February 4, 2022


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