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WHL Edmonton Oil Kings

Preview: Oil Kings vs. Saskatoon Blades 1.21.24

January 20, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Edmonton Oil Kings News Release


EDMONTON OIL KINGS (15-24-1-1) vs. SASKATOON BLADES (30-9-2-2) - January 21, 2024 - Rogers Place - 4:00 PM

EOK Today - Tickets - Game Notes

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2023-24 Schedule vs. Saskatoon

Wednesday, Oct 4 @ Saskatoon (5-3 SAS)

Wednesday, Oct 11 @ Edmonton (7-0 SAS)

Sunday, Jan 21 @ Edmonton

Saturday, Mar 9 @ Saskatoon

2023-24 vs. Saskatoon: 0-2-0-0 Home: 0-1-0-0 Away: 0-1-0-0 PP: 0/8 (0.0%) PK: 4/9 (55.6%)

2022-23 vs. Saskatoon: 0-4-0-0 Home: 0-2-0-0 Away: 0-2-0-0 PP: 0/15 (12.5%) PK: 4/17 (76.5%)

Matchup Notes

Today marks the third of four meetings this season between the Oil Kings and Blades. The Blades secured wins in each of the first two meetings of the season back in October.

This afternoon's matchup is the 65th all-time regular season meeting between the two teams with the Oil Kings holding a record of 32-27-3-2.

Coming In

The Oil Kings come in after securing a 6-4 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night at Rogers Place and are now 7-4-1-0 in their last 12 games.

The Oil Kings used six different goal scorers on Friday night with Landon Hanson, Rhys Pederson, Marc Lajoie, Skyler Bruce, Roan Woodward and Ty Nash all finding the back of the net, while Gavin Hodnett (3A) and Gracyn Sawchyn (2A) turned in multi-assist nights. Kolby Hay turned in 36 saves for his 14th win of the season. Edmonton went 1-for-2 on the PP, while the Raiders also went 1-for-2.

With his first period power play goal, Marc Lajoie set a new franchise record for power play goals in a single season by a defenceman with his 10th.

The Blades are wrapping up a three-game Alberta swing this afternoon and have split the first two games after losing 5-4 in Red Deer on Wednesday before bouncing back with a 4-3 win on Friday in Calgary.

The Blades have now won four of their last five games and have just one regulation loss in their last 20 games going 15-1-2-2 in that span.

Earlier this week, they were ranked #1 in the CHL Weekly Top 10 Rankings.

EOK Notables

Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie sits 10th in defenceman points (34), 2nd in defenceman goals (15), 1st in defenceman PP goals (10) and 3rd in defenceman PP points (22) in the WHL. His 10 power play goals ranks 5th overall in the entire WHL amongst all skaters.

Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie is tied for 5th with Matthew Robertson for the most career power play goals by an Oil Kings defenceman in franchise history with 10 trailing only Griffin Reinhart (12), Cody Corbett (12), Aaron Irving (13) and Conner McDonald (14).

Oil Kings defenceman Marc Lajoie is tied for 3rd with Keegan Lowe for most goals by an Oil Kings defenceman in single season with 15 trailing only Cody Corbett (17, 2013-14) and Conner McDonald (19, 2018-19).

Oil Kings forward Adam Jecho is 12th in WHL rookie scoring with 26 points (11G, 15A) in just 29 games.

The Oil Kings have killed off 59 of the last 71 penalties they've taken over the past 22 games (83.1%). The Oil Kings PP has gone 28 for its last 109 over the past 27 games (25.7%) and has 30 goals in its last 29 games.

The Oil Kings lead the WHL in attendance (5,746 avg.).

SAS Notables

Blades forward Trevor Wong is 6th in WHL points with 70 points (12G, 58A) in 43 games and leads the entire WHL in assists with 58. His 24 power play assists rank 2nd and his 27 power play points rank 4th.

Blades forward Egor Sidorov is 2nd in WHL goal scoring this season with 35 goals and is 15th in points with 56 (35G, 21A). His 12 power play goals rank 3rd.

Blades goaltender Austin Elliott ranks 2nd amongst all WHL goaltenders in wins with 19, 6th in goals against average (2.58) and 3rd in shutouts (2).

Milestone Watch

F Skyler Bruce is 7 games away from 200 career WHL games.

F Gracyn Sawchyn is 8 points away from 100 career WHL points.

D Marc Lajoie is 14 assists away from 100 career WHL assists.

Lineup Report

D Ethan MacKenzie, upper-body, month-to-month (Games missed: 21).

Streaks

F Gracyn Sawchyn is on a 5-game point streak (1g-7a-8pts).

F Ty Nash is on a 4-game point streak (3g-2a-5pts).

F Roan Woodward is on a 4-game point streak (2g-2a-4pts).

D Marc Lajoie is on a 2-game point streak (3g-1a-4pts).

F Joe Iginla is on a 2-game point streak (1g-1a-2pts).

Who's Hot

F Gavin Hodnett has 36 points (8G, 28A) in his last 30 games.

D Marc Lajoie has 27 points (12G, 15A) in his last 29 games.

F Skyler Bruce has 26 points (13G, 13A) in his last 26 games.

F Roan Woodward has 17 points (7G, 10A) in his last 23 games.

F Ty Nash has 25 points (13G, 12A) in his last 19 games.

F Adam Jecho has 16 points (6G, 10A) in his last 17 games.

F Gracyn Sawchyn has 18 points (5G, 13A) in his last 15 games.

G Kolby Hay has won 7 of his last 9 starts and is 10-5-0-0 in his last 15 starts.

Check out the Edmonton Oil Kings Statistics



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