CHL Tulsa Oilers

Second Period Dooms Oilers in 5-4 Loss to Wichita

Published on January 20, 2013 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


TULSA, OK - Last weekend, the Oilers won a Friday road game only to lose two home games on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend against Wichita was deja vu for Tulsa. After posting a 4-2 win in Wichita on Friday, the Oilers fell 3-2 on Saturday, and ended the weekend with a 5-4 loss to the Thunder at the BOK Center.

For the Oilers, it was the Drew Fisher show. The Minnesota native came into the weekend with five goals and 10 assists. He exited the weekend with nine goals and 11 assists.

Fisher opened the scoring by making a move on Thunder goalie Torrie Jung as he capitalized on a turnover and sent a backhander into the net seven minutes into the game.

The Thunder responded with back-to-back powerplay goals. R.G. Flath deflected Andrew Martens shot to knot the game 1-1 with 9:08 remaining in the opening stanza. Less than two minutes later Martens delivered on a pass from Kevin Young and slid one in off the post.

Fisher came back with another goal, a powerplay one-timer, which squared the game 2-2 with 4:14 left in the opener.

The second period started out on a high note for Tulsa as Fisher slid the puck between Jung's legs on a breakaway to give himself a hat trick and the Oilers a 3-2 lead a little over two minutes into the frame.

Then the Thunder went on a scoring spree, something the Oilers have watched their opponents do on too many occasions this season.

Five minutes after Fisher's go-ahead goal, Flath scored his second tip-in goal of the day, and 24 seconds later Neil Trimm knocked one in off a pass from Matt Robinson. Only a minute and a half ticked off the clock before Greger Hanson made it 5-3 for Wichita. Hanson's tally signaled the end of the night for rookie goaltender Dan Clarke who was making his CHL debut. Clarke was replaced by Shane Madolora, who stopped all 19 shots he faced to keep the Oilers in the contest.

The lone goal of the third period came 41 seconds in when Sean Erickson blasted in a powerplay goal from the point. Just like on Saturday evening, the Oilers spent the rest of the period searching for the equalizer but were continually turned away by Jung.

Penalty killing has been a problem for the Oilers in the last couple of contests. In yesterday's game, Tulsa yielded two out of three goals on powerplays and in today's contest they allowed three powerplay scores.

Tulsa has now lost its last five games at home, tying the longest losing streak the Oilers have had at the BOK Center since the beginning of the 2010-11 season.

Tulsa's next game comes on Jan. 22 as they take on the Arizona Sundogs at 4:05 p.m. at the BOK Center.

Check out the Tulsa Oilers Statistics

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



Central Hockey League Stories from January 20, 2013


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