Crown Chronicles: Mixed Results
The Edmonton Oil Kings are coming off a quiet week that saw them in action just twice with both games played at Rogers Place.
The week got off on the wrong foot as they saw their 14-game win streak come to an end with a loss to the Saskatoon Blades before bouncing back with a win on Fan Appreciation Night over their rivals the Calgary Hitmen on Friday to conclude their week.
The Oil Kings are sitting at 45-12-2-1 on the season holding a two-point lead over the Winnipeg ICE for top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Highlight of the Week
Dylan Guenther gloves down a clearing attempt to send Carter Souch and Jalen Luypen in on an odd-man rush to open the scoring on Fan Appreciation Night against the Hitmen.
Weekly Review
Oil Kings 3 vs Saskatoon Blades 5 (Wednesday)
The Oil Kings fired 46 shots the way of Blades veteran netminder Nolan Maier but could not consistently solve the Yorkton product as he claimed his 118th career win to bring him within just two of the all-time league record while he was provided ample run support thanks to a natural hat-trick from Tristen Robins. Jalen Luypen did what he could to provide a comeback spark scoring twice for the Oil Kings in the losing cause.
Oil Kings 4 vs Calgary Hitmen 1 (Friday)
Jalen Luypen picked up where he left off as he opened the scoring early in the first period, while former Hitmen Luke Prokop scored the eventual game-winner. In the third period, Dylan Guenther put the game on ice scoring on a penalty shot to provide some late insurance while also tallying an empty-netter just over a minute later to become just the third Oil King in franchise history to hit the 40-goal mark in a season. Kolby Hay continued his personal win streak making 21 saves for his eighth straight win.
Three Stars of the Week
3. #6 Luke Prokop – Aside from serving as a pillar defensively for the Oil Kings, Prokop has found new levels of offensive success in #TheKingdom. With a goal and an assist to go with a +3 plus/minus rating, the Nashville Predators third-round pick is poised to play a significant role come the playoffs for the Oil Kings. With 10 goals in just 48 games with the Oil Kings, the local product has outscored his entire career as a member of the Calgary Hitmen where he had eight goals in 153 games. In Friday’s game against his former team, he not only notched the game-winning goal but also set a new career high for shots in a single-game with nine.
2. #11 Dylan Guenther – The Edmonton product continued to produce at a high clip over the two-game homestand, notching two goals and one assist in the 4-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. The 18-year-old now finds himself in sole possession of fourth in WHL goals, while also becoming just the third skater in franchise history to score 40 markers in a season joining Curtis Lazar (41, 2013-14) and Michael St. Croix (45, 2011-12).
1. #23 Jalen Luypen – The fourth-year Oil King finished the week with three goals in two games to go along with a +5 plus/minus rating. Luypen now has seven goals in his last six games and remains third on the team in goals. He is currently riding a six-game point streak (7G, 2A).
Quick Hits
- The Oil Kings magic number to clinch a fourth straight Central Division championship is six points. Should the Oil Kings win the division, it would mark the first time a WHL team won their division in four consecutive seasons since the Vancouver Giants won five straight B.C. Division crowns from 2005-10.
- Dylan Guenther became the eighth different Oil King to score on a penalty shot in franchise history joining Logan Proulx, Tomas Vincour, T.J. Foster, Curtis Lazar, Tomas Soustal, Carter Souch and Jake Neighbours. He is also the third different Oil King to take three penalty shots in his career along with Vincour and Souch. The Oil Kings are 8-for-34 all-time on penalty shots in the regular season and 0-for-2 in the post-season.
- With his 14th win, Kolby Hay passed Laurent Brossoit for second most wins by a rookie goaltender in franchise history.
- Former Oil King Wyatt McLeod and the University of Alberta Golden Bears captured the Canada West USPORTS Championship this past week defeating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 2-0 in their best-of-three series at Clare Drake Arena.
Next Up
The Oil Kings take on the Lethbridge Hurricanes in a weekend home-and-home series starting Friday in Lethbridge at 7:00 PM and wrapping up on Sunday in ICE District at 4:00 PM.
The Oil Kings are 5-1-0-0 against the Hurricanes this season. Dylan Guenther leads all Oil Kings scorers against the Hurricanes this season with 10 points (7G, 3A) in six games.
Edmonton Oil Kings Season Seats, Flex-Packs, Weekend Passes and Single-Game tickets, for as low as $20 per game, are currently on sale at oilkings.ca.
The Oil Kings next home game is Sunday, March 27 when they welcome the Lethbridge Hurricanes to Rogers Place for a Family Fun Sunday at 4:00 PM.
