WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings Suffer Shootout Loss To Swifty

January 10, 2010 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


EDMONTON, AB: There has been one common theme between the Edmonton Oil Kings and Swift Current Broncos this season.

The shootout.

In fact make it shootout, shootout, shootout.

In their three previous meetings the Oil Kings and Broncos fought their way to two shootouts with each team winning once. Last night marked their final meeting at Rexall Place and coincidently it ended up going to another shootout.

Unfortunately, the Oil Kings lost the shootout rubber match, losing 2-1 to Swift Current.

Torrie Jung made his first start in four games and was sensational making 45 saves in the loss. T.J Foster scored for the Oil Kings while Justin Dowling replied for Swift Current. Morgan Clark made 28 saves in the victory.

Broncos forward Cody Eakin scored the only goal of the shootout.

"We didn't have a very good first period, and I thought that is when he (Jung) stood tall for us," said Pleau, praising his goaltender for the outstanding effort.

"He hasn't played in awhile and he had something to prove. I thought our guys played hard for him. It's a good point. You always want two, but it's a good point."

The Oil Kings are now winless in seven games (0-5-2), and their record drops to 10-23-4-7. The Oil Kings were without the services of two key components. Mark Pysyk and Tomas Vincour missed the contest. They left the previous game against the Vancouver Giants after the first period for undisclosed reasons.

For the second straight night, the Oil Kings played with just five defenceman, but the young defensive corps put together gutsy under the tough circumstances.

"This is a new situation for a lot of guys with injuries and sicknesses and what not. It's a bit of a learning curve, but at the same time I thought we composed ourselves pretty well out there," said Jung.

"Especially the young guys who aren't used to getting 20 minutes a night and are getting thrown into a situation like that. They performed very well."

After a scoreless first period that saw the Oil Kings get outshot 14-5, they came out with some vengeance as they got their offence going.

With Joel Rogers in the box, the Oil Kings buzzed around the Broncos net for scoring chances. They came up empty on the power play, but Foster opened the scoring just seconds after the penalty expired when he took the puck out from the corner and slid the puck through the legs of Clark for the 1-0 lead.

The Broncos stormed out in the third period and finally beat Jung on their 37th shot of the game when Dowling beat Jung with a perfect shot over his shoulder and under the cross bar.

"We had five 'D' two nights in a row, but they battled. I wanted to see our battle level. I didn't think our battle level was what it needed to be in the first. Our second period was a tremendous period, I thought we could've been up after the second," explained Pleau.

"In the third period, it's just a battle then and Junger was good, and we were just battling to get that point."

Shootouts have continued to be a bit of a mystery for the Oil Kings this season. They are just 1-7 this year. Their only victory in the shootout came against the Broncos in Swift Current back on Oct. 17th.

"I don't know what it is right now. We all know that we've only won one shootout. It's not an easy thing," said Pleau.

"You just have to work at it. You can't be squeezing the stick. You've got to read the goalie. I thought their goalie was out and we could have deaked a little bit, but we ended up shooting."

It was a tough weekend as the Oil Kings are still searching for their first win of 2010. They battled the Vancouver Giants hard in a 5-3 loss Friday night, and battled tooth and nail for a single point against the Broncos on Saturday.

With new faces and the team continuing to build for the future, the Oil Kings are playing some of their best hockey of the season, but aren't getting rewarded right now.

"Obviously we are taking steps in the right direction. This is the best team play we've seen in awhile. You've got to give Swift Current and Vancouver, they are good hockey teams. We played well in both games. Maybe we deserved a better fate (this weekend), but that is the way it's going to go sometimes," added Jung.

"We just have to continue to work hard and stay positive." Next action for the Oil Kings is this Wednesday January 13th against the Kootenay Ice.It's the Oil Kings first ever CN Hockey Hooky event, where over 6,000 students will enjoy the field trip of the year as they attend an Oil Kings game. It's a special start time of 11:30 a.m. For tickets go to any ticketmaster location or call 780 414 GOAL, or visit oilkings.ca for more information.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2010


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