ECHL Tulsa Oilers

Oilers Fall to Mavericks in Penalty-Riddled Contest

January 23, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


INDEPENDENCE, MO - The Tulsa Oilers ended a seven-game road trip with a 4-2 loss to the Missouri Mavericks on Friday night at the Independence Events Center. The sixth meeting of the season between the two clubs finished with a total of 90 penalty minutes and a 37-save performance out of Missouri goaltender Mike Clemente. The Mavericks snapped a seven-game losing streak while the Oilers suffered their third consecutive regulation loss.

A testy tone was set shortly after the opening face off as Tulsa captain Nathan Lutz leveled Mavericks winger Andrew Courtney. Before the dust had settled around Courtney, Oilers defenseman Eric Tallent was trading punches with Mavs' forward Ryley Grantham. The fighting majors were the first of 11 penalties called in the opening period. Missouri's leading goal-scorer Josh Brittain gave his squad an early advantage with his 14th goal of the season at the 9:48 mark. After scooping up a puck behind the Oilers' net, Brittain bullied his way into the slot and snapped the puck through Kevin Carr for a 1-0 Mavs lead. The Oilers failed to capitalize on back-to-back first period power plays and were kept off the board despite outshooting the Mavericks 12-10 over the first 20 minutes.

A fortunate bounce allowed the Oilers to level the contest at 1-1 with seven minutes remaining in the second period. Tulsa defenseman Scott Macaulay, fresh off his appearance at the ECHL All-Star Game, fired a shot from the right wing that deflected off the leg of Drew Fisher and into the back of the net. The Oilers' momentum lasted only 30 seconds as the Mavs restored their lead on the 11th goal of the season from veteran winger Sebastien Thinel. In his first game as a Maverick, Geoff Walker dished to Thinel in the slot and the former Central Hockey League MVP snapped a shot past Carr for a 2-1 advantage.

With seven minutes to go in the third, Carr was able to make a breakaway save on Lindsay Sparks but was unable to deny the next attempt from Jack Downing. The Missouri forward had his first shot denied but shoveled home the rebound to give the home side its first two-goal cushion of the game. Walker put the game out of reach with an empty net tally at 18:46 and a late strike from Kyle O'Kane proved too little, too late for the Oilers. A skirmish in the closing minute led to game misconducts for Tulsa's Nathan Lutz and Tommy Mele as well as Grantham for Missouri.

The Oilers totaled 46 penalty minutes on 12 infractions while the Mavericks ended with 44 penalty minutes on 15 violations. Tulsa finished the contest 0-for-5 on the power play and has gone 0-for-9 on the man-advantage over the course of the current three-game skid.

Tulsa is 1-4-1 in the season series against Missouri and dropped back to .500 (19-19-1-3) overall. The Oilers finally return to home ice on Thursday, January 29th at 7:05 p.m. for the first of back-to-back games against the Brampton Beast.

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ECHL Stories from January 23, 2015


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