CHL Tulsa Oilers

Tulsa Oilers Weekly

December 12, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Tulsa Oilers News Release


Week In Review: For the second week in a row the Oilers split a pair of weekend games with a win at home and a loss on the road. Friday night at the BOK Center, Tulsa picked up its first shootout win of the season with a 3-2 victory over the Allen Americans. After missing five games with a concussion, winger David Solway returned to the Oilers lineup and had an immediate impact by scoring the lone goal of the shootout. Ian Keserich was outstanding in goal once again for Tulsa. The Cleveland, Ohio native turned aside 39 shots and stopped all five of the Americans he faced in the shootout. Saturday night in Bloomington, the Oilers ran into a surging Blaze team and fell 4-2. Tulsa got goals from Gary Steffes and Ryan Raven, but allowed 46 shots on goal as Bloomington evened the season series with the Oilers at a game apiece.

Home Sweet Home: With 78 goals for the season, the Oilers lead the CHL in offense. However, there is a gap between Tulsa's output at home and on the road. Through 11 home games, the Oilers have scored 47 goals for an average of 4.27 goals per game. Away from the BOK Center, Tulsa has mustered 31 goals in 10 games for an average of 3.1 per game. The three goal benchmark is a good indication of how the Oilers have fared. When scoring three or more goals, Tulsa is 11-3-2. When failing to reach the three goal mark, the Oilers are 0-5-0.

Making The Most of Chances: No team in the league is better at capitalizing on its opportunities than the Oilers. It's not necessarily the amount of shots that matters as it is the quality of those shots. Despite being ninth in the CHL in total shots, Tulsa leads the league with a .121 shooting percentage. Top line center Mike Ullrich is by far the Oilers most efficient offensive threat. Ullrich has 13 goals on just 61 shots this season for a whopping .213 shooting percentage.

Special Teams: The Oilers scored a powerplay goal in each game last weekend and have now scored at least one powerplay goal in nine of the last ten games. In that stretch, Tulsa is cashing in on nearly one third of its chances on the man advantage. The powerplay unit is fourth in the CHL at 22.5 percent for the season. Dylan Clarke leads the way with four powerplay tallies and the Oilers have had ten different players score a powerplay goal. Tulsa's penalty kill has allowed a goal in seven of the last ten games, but has been very stingy lately. In the last three games, opponents have been completely shutout in eight powerplay opportunities. The Oilers penalty kill is operating at 81 percent, fifth best in the CHL.

Keserich Has Star Power: Ian Keserich's steady play in net this season has earned him consistent recognition as one of the Three Stars of the Game. The Tulsa netminder is fifth in the league with 20 Three Star points. Keserich was named first star of the game twice, second star of the game three times, and third star of the game once. The 25-year old goalie leads the CHL with 562 saves and is second in the league with ten wins.

Upcoming Games: The Oilers play a Tuesday night game for the first time in three weeks, then head to Arizona for the longest road trip of the season.

Tuesday, December 13 - vs. Texas Brahmas at 7:05pm ($2 Beer, Papa John's College Night)

Friday, December 16 - at Arizona Sundogs at 7:05pm local time (8:05pm CST)

Saturday, December 17 - at Arizona Sundogs at 7:05pm local time (8:05pm CST)

Check out the Tulsa Oilers Statistics



Central Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2011


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