Preview: Oil Kings vs Medicine Hat Tigers 2.19.24
February 19, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release
EDMONTON OIL KINGS (18-32-2-1) vs. MEDICINE HATE TIGERS (32-17-4-2) -
FEBRUARY 19, 2024 - ROGERS PLACE - 2:00 PM
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2023-24 Schedule vs. Medicine Hat Tigers
Friday, Oct 27 @ Medicine Hat (7-4 MH)
Sunday, Nov 5 @ Edmonton (5-1 MH)
Friday, Dec 8 @ Medicine Hat (8-2 MH)
Saturday, Dec 9 @ Edmonton (3-2 MH)
Monday, Feb 19 @ Edmonton
Friday, Mar 1 @ Medicine Hat
Matchup Notes
Tonight marks the 5th of 6 meetings in the regular season between the 2 clubs. Medicine Hat has won all 4 of the previous meetings.
Marshall Finnie and Gavin Hodnett lead all Oil Kings in scoring during the season series with three points (1G, 2A), while Oasiz Wiesblatt (3G, 5A) leads the way for the Tigers in the head to head with eight points.
All-time, the Oil Kings and Rebels have met 103 times in the regular season with the Oil Kings holding a record of 41-49-4-10.
Coming In
The Oil Kings are coming off a pair of 3-1 victories over Red Deer in their back-to-back, home-and-home on Friday and Saturday. Edmonton has won 2 games in a row, and are undefeated in regulation during their last 3 home games.
The Oil Kings and Rebels battled through a scoreless opening 20 minutes at Rogers Place on Saturday night, until Cole Miller broke the deadlock in the 2nd period as he streaked down the wing and slid a backhander through the legs of Red Deer Goalie Chase Wutzke.
The score remained 1-0 into the 3rd period, when Gracyn Sawchyn buried a Ty Nash feed on a 3-on-1. The Rebels answered back on an awkward bounce, fooling Rookie Goalie Hudson Perry and spoiling his bid for a shutout. The youngster picked up his first career Western Hockey League victory, making 30 saves.
Adam Jecho added the insurance goal into an empty net with :09 seconds remaining on the clock.
EOK Notables
 Oil Kings prospect Joe Iginla picked up another point on Saturday night, in just his 3rd Western Hockey League game (1G 2A) .
 Oil Kings Rookie Goalie Hudson Perry picked up his first career Western Hockey League win on Saturday vs Red Deer.
 Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie sits 13th in defenceman points (41), 2nd in defenceman goals (19), 1st in defenceman PP goals (11) and tied for 4th in defenceman PP points (23) in the WHL. His 11 power play goals rank tied for 4th overall in the entire WHL amongst all skaters.
 Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie is in for 5th for the most career power play goals by an Oil Kings defenceman in franchise history with 11 trailing only Griffin Reinhart (12), Cody Corbett (12), Aaron Irving (13) and Conner McDonald (14).
 Oil Kings forward Adam Jecho is 13th in WHL rookie scoring with 33 points (16G, 17A) in just 39 games.
 The Oil Kings lead the WHL in attendance (5,988 avg.).
MHT Notables
 Tigers Forward Gavin McKenna leads all rookies in scoring with 77 points (25G, 52A) through 49 games, and is 11th overall among all Western Hockey League skaters in points.
 Tigers Forward Gavin McKenna is 5th in the Western Hockey League with 25 powerplay assists.
 Tigers Forward Oasiz Wiesblatt is 2nd in the Western Hockey League with 9 game-winning goals.
 Tigers Forward Shane Smith leads the team with 27 goals and remarkably, has only three multi-goal games during the 2023/24 campaign.
Milestone Watch
 F Marshall Finnie has taken 2,000 career WHL face-offs.
 F Jack Toogood played in his 1st Western Hockey League game on Friday night.
 F Gracyn Sawchyn is 2 games away from 100 career WHL games.
 F Ty Nash is 8 games away from 250 career WHL games.
 F Ty Nash is 5 points away from 150 career WHL points.
 D Marc Lajoie is 11 assists away from 100 career WHL assists.
 F Gavin Hodnett is 5 points away from 100 career WHL points.
Lineup Report
 D Ethan MacKenzie, upper-body, week-to-week (Games missed: 34).
 F Presley Kerner, lower-body, week-to-week (Games missed: 3)
 F John Szabo, upper-body, day-to-day (Games missed 2)
 F Skylar Bruce, lower-body, day-to-day (Games missed: 2)
Streaks
 F Gavin Hodnett is on a 3-game point streak (1g-2a-3pts).
 F Gracyn Sawchyn is on a 5-game point streak (2g-3a-4pts).
 F Joe Iginla is on a 3-game point streak (1g-1a-2pts).
Who's Hot
 F Gavin Hodnett has 49 points (14G, 35A) in his last 42 games.
 F Ty Nash has 13 points (4G, 9A) in his last 14 games.
 F Adam Jecho has 23 points (11G, 12A) in his last 27 games.
 F Gracyn Sawchyn has 29 points (9G, 20A) in his last 27 games.
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