Crown Chronicles: Road Warriors
The Edmonton Oil Kings are riding a franchise-high 14-game regular-season win streak after going undefeated on their four-game road trip through southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The Oil Kings opened their week by setting a new single-season franchise record by winning their 12th consecutive game in Medicine Hat before sweeping a double feature in Swift Current against the Broncos to add on to the new franchise mark.
Sitting at 44-11-2-1 on the season, the Oil Kings are seven points up on the Everett Silvertips & Kamloops Blazers for top spot in the entire Western Hockey League while maintaining an eight-point cushion atop the Eastern Conference standings over the Winnipeg ICE and leading the Red Deer Rebels by 12 points for top spot in the Central Division.
Highlight of the Week
Carson Golder makes a beautiful bounce pass to send Josh Williams in on a breakaway against the Tigers and Williams made no mistake converting on his 100th career WHL goal.
Weekly Review
Oil Kings 7 @ Medicine Hat Tigers 3 (Wednesday)
The Oil Kings fended off a pesky Tiger team to open their week with a 7-3 win after seeing the Tigers comeback from three separate one-goal deficits before the Oil Kings would score four unanswered goals to close out the win. Oil Kings call-up Hayden Wheddon made his WHL debut in this game and in the second period he scored his first career goal which would hold up as the game winner.
Oil Kings 3 @ Swift Current Broncos 1 (Friday)
For the first time in 13 games, the Oil Kings were held to under four goals in a game but thanks to a 25-save performance from Sebastian Cossa, the only offence they would need were goals from Jalen Luypen and Logan Dowhaniuk.
Oil Kings 5 @ Swift Current Broncos 1 (Saturday)
The Oil Kings got back to their goal scoring ways on Saturday night as Dylan Guenther led the charge with two goals and an assist as the Oil Kings wrapped up their four-game road trip with a convincing win. Kaiden Guhle notched his 100th career point in the game with a first period assist while Sebastian Cossa was .1-second away from his sixth shutout of the season.
Three Stars of the Week
3. #23 Jalen Luypen – The Chicago Blackhawks prospect had a big week as he tallied four points (3G, 1A) in three games. The former ninth-round bantam pick has put up another career year this season and has been on an incredible run since early February having picked up points in 14 of his last 17 games (10G, 10A) and is currently riding a four-game point streak. In 56 games this season, he has 60 points (25G, 35A) which ranks him 26th amongst all WHL players.
2. #33 Sebastian Cossa – The Detroit Red Wings first-rounder continued his dominant season after picking up his eighth and ninth consecutive wins in Swift Current on Friday and Saturday night. Cossa finished the weekend making 45 saves on the 47 shots he faced. Over his last four starts, he is 4-0-0-0 with a 1.25 goals-against average and a .938 save-percentage. He currently leads the WHL in both wins (30) and shutouts (5).
1. #11 Dylan Guenther – The Arizona Coyotes first-rounder has taken over the team’s scoring lead after putting up six points (2G, 4A) in three games last week. He is currently riding a six-game point streak in which he is averaging two points per-game (5G, 7A). He has now moved into second place in the WHL goal scoring race with 38 goals this season, sitting seven back of Red Deer’s Ben King, who has played eight more games than Guenther. With 76 points (38G, 38A) in 49 games this year, he ranks 5th amongst all WHL skaters. He is just two goals away from becoming just the third Oil King skater to reach 40 goals in a season, joining Curtis Lazar (41, 2013-14) and Michael St. Croix (45, 2011-12).
Quick Hits
- Over the Oil Kings current 14-game win streak, they have outscored their opponents by 79-27.
- Over the Oil Kings current 14-game win streak, their penalty kill has killed off 60 of the 68 opposition power plays (88.2%), while their power play has scored 15 times on 63 chances (23.8%).
- Over the Oil Kings current 14-game win streak they have played 840 minutes of hockey and have only trailed for 43:57.
- With his goal in the third period on Saturday in Swift Current, Oil Kings forward Josh Williams has now scored a goal in every Eastern Conference Arena in his career, including Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, BC (former home of the Kootenay ICE, now Winnipeg ICE).
- Under the guidance of General Manager Kirt Hill, Head Coach Brad Lauer and Assistant Coach Luke Pierce, the Oil Kings have gone 148-43-12-10 over the past four seasons for a win-percentage of .695 and a point-percentage of .746.
- On Saturday, March 12 the Columbus Blue Jackets recalled former Oil Kings captain Trey Fix-Wolansky from the Cleveland Monsters, marking his second call-up this season.
Next Up
The Oil Kings are on home ice for a brief two-game homestand this week as they welcome the Saskatoon Blades to town on Wednesday and then wrap up their week on Friday with Fan Appreciation Night against the Calgary Hitmen.
The Oil Kings are 3-1-1-0 against the Blades this season and are 5-1-0-0 against the Hitmen.
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 Wednesday, March 16 when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades to Rogers Place at 7:00 PM.
