Oil Kings Settle For Shootout Point In P.G.
Published on February 22, 2009 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release
Prince George, BC - The Edmonton Oil Kings were 34 seconds away from a perfect weekend in Prince George. The Cougars managed to steal a point away from the Oil Kings with a late goal in regulation time. In the end, Prince George scored in the shootout and the Oil Kings did not giving the Cougars a 4 - 3 shootout win in an entertaining game at the CN Centre. Edmonton picks up 3 of a possible 4 points on the trip up to northern B.C. and bump slightly ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders grabbing sole possession of the final playoff spot in the WHL's Eastern Conference.
Edmonton got off to another great start thanks to an early powerplay. The co-captains started the play with Brenden Dowd controlling the puck along the boards near the hash marks. He worked it to Jeff Lee who had some room on the short side. The 20 year old veteran tried to stuff one in from the bad angle and the rebound came out to Tomas Vincour on the opposite side of the net. The big Czech was parked on the back door and deposited his 15th of the season to make it 1 - 0 just 5:21 into the contest.
Torrie Jung made 2 huge saves in a mad scramble in front of the Oil Kings net with just seconds to go in the opening period. He also held the Cougars off the score sheet on three powerplays in the opening 20 minutes as Edmonton carried their one goal lead into the second period.
Prince George didn't take long to cash in on their first powerplay of the middle stanza. 6 seconds into a Jesse Pearson high sticking minor, former Oil King Cameron Cepek flipped a harmless wrist shot on net that deflected off not one, but two sticks on its way into the top corner behind a helpless Torrie Jung. It was 1 - 1 just 68 seconds into the period.
Another special teams goal gave the Cougars their first lead of the weekend series. Brent Raedeke had some troubles dealing with a very aggressive forecheck deep in Edmonton territory. The puck was turned over behind the Oil Kings net and Marek Viedensky sent a quick pass to the low slot for Tyler Halliday who snapped a quick shot to the glove side for a shorthanded marker. It was 2 - 1 Prince George.
That lead didn't last too long. A Cougars shot that sailed wide lead to a rush the other way for Edmonton. Vincour dropped a pass for Brenden Dowd and he used the defense for a screened shot. The knuckle-baller dribbled through the pads of Joe Caligiuri for Dowd's team leading 24th goal of the season. It was 2 - 2 about half way through the hockey game.
Jung had to be sharp again later in the period when the Cougars were awarded a penalty shot. Nick Buonassisi was sprung for a breakaway near the end of a shift. Jesse Pearson was in hot pursuit and dove at the last second to try to sweep away the puck. The trip lead to the penalty shot call but Jung was equal to the task. His poke check was just enough to stymie Buonassisi. The game remained tied heading into the third period.
The Oil Kings regained the lead midway through the third on a goal the Cougars would call controversial. Brandon Lockerby was able to knock a puck out of mid-air up high and past Caligiuri for his first goal in 23 games. The powerplay marker from Craig McCallum came at 10:11 of the period to make it a 3 - 2 hockey game.
The Cougars pulled out all the stops in the dying seconds, just like they did 24 hours earlier. This time a point shot from Dallas Jackson through a pile of bodies in front of Jung found its way to the crease. Tyler Halliday was able to stuff it home as he was being decked from behind to tie the game at 3 and set up the dramatics for overtime and eventually the shootout.
The first shooter for the home team was Brett Connolly and his deke to the forehand worked. Brenden Dowd avoided the poke check of Caligiuri but couldn't stuff the backhand past his splits. Marek Viedensky opted for the backhand deke and then he roofed one over a sprawling Jung to force Tomas Vincour into a must score situation. Caligiuri finished with a big glove save to steal the 2 points.
The Oil Kings are now 1 - 5 when it comes to shootouts but they'll gladly take the single point to bump ahead of the Prince Albert Raiders who lost Saturday night to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Edmonton's record improves to 26-31-2-5, good for 59 points and sole possession of 8th place in the WHL's Eastern Conference. The Raiders do have 1 game in hand.
The Oil Kings wrap up this long stretch of road games with a solid record of 3-3-0-1 and return home for their first game at Rexall Place in three weeks. It'll be a Weiner Wednesday on the 25th against the visiting Red Deer Rebels. Sheldon Souray will also be coming to the game for the Sheldon Shoots on Sean for the Stollery Radiothon promotion. He'll unload one of the hardest shots in the NHL on CISN Country's morning show host Sean Burke to raise money and awareness for the Stollery Children's Hospital.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 22, 2009
- T-Birds down Giants 3-2 - Vancouver Giants
- T-Birds Topple Giants - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Hawks Fall to Tri City 4-1 - Portland Winterhawks
- Hitmen clinch regular season Eastern Conference Championship with shootout win in Red Deer - Calgary Hitmen
- Sold Out Crowd Cheers Tri-City Past Spokane 2-1 - Tri-City Americans
- T-Birds clich playoff berth with 4-3 win over Winter Hawks - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Kelowna Edges Everett, 3-2 - Everett Silvertips
- Scrappy Hawks Fall One Short to Seattle 4-3 - Portland Winterhawks
- Oil Kings Settle For Shootout Point In P.G. - Edmonton Oil Kings
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