ECHL Tulsa Oilers

Oilers Drop Second Straight to Americans

Published on March 26, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


TULSA, OK - A contest that started late, ended in frustration for the Tulsa Oilers on Wednesday night at the BOK Center. Uncharacteristic turnovers, a clock malfunction, and some difficult bounces proved too much for the Oilers too overcome in a 3-1 setback against the Allen Americans.

After the game was delayed by an hour due to tornado warnings and severe storms in the Tulsa area, an impressive individual effort from Allen forward Spencer Asuchak led to the first goal of the contest at 10:53 of the opening period. With teammate Tyler Ludwig in the box for hooking, Asuchak was able to pull the puck away from Tulsa defenseman Scott Macaulay and move in all alone on Oilers' goalie Kevin Carr. Asuchak quickly snapped the puck past the blocker of Carr for his ninth goal of the season and a 1-0 Americans' advantage.

With the visitors still up 1-0 in the second period, the Oilers were awarded a power play at 14:06 thanks to a high-sticking call against Allen forward Vincent Arseneau. During the power play, the scoreboard clock at the BOK Center froze at 5:54 and showed a full two minutes of penalty time for Arseneau. Despite the issue, play continued, and with the clock still stuck, Arseneau was released from the box. The Americans' winger raced toward the puck along the back boards of the Tulsa zone and centered a pass to Greger Hanson who beat a startled Carr to give Allen a 2-0 edge. The Oilers players and Head Coach Bruce Ramsay adamantly protested that Arseneau was released from the box too soon but referee Mike McCreary awarded the goal to the Americans and the rest of the second period was played with the clock frozen. The Oilers' lone tally of the night was an unlikely strike from Adam Pleskach with just over a minute remaining in the frame. Positioned in the corner to the right of the Allen net, Pleskach fired a shot that deflected off goalie Riley Gill and into the back of the net. The Tulsa forward potted his 35th goal of the season to cut the Americans' lead in half.

The Oilers were unable to find the equalizer in the third period and at 7:38 of the closing stanza, a fortuitous bounce resulted in the insurance marker for Allen. Patrik Valcak sent a puck to the top of the Tulsa crease that deflected off Carr and bounced off the visor of Garrett Clarke before finally settling behind the goal line. J.P. Anderson, who played the entire third period in relief of Gill, stopped all nine shots fired by the Oilers in the closing 20 minutes to preserve the lead and the victory for Allen.

The Oilers were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill but saw their streak of power play goals in four consecutive games come to an end with an 0-for-5 performance on the man-advantage. At the end of the evening, the Oilers fell to fourth place in the Central Division playoff chase, one point back of Rapid City and Quad City.

Next up for the Oilers, a third straight meeting against the Americans on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the Allen Event Center.

Check out the Tulsa Oilers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from March 26, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central