GAME SUMMARY: Guenther’s three-point night pushes Oil Kings to 14th straight win
Swift Current, SK – The Edmonton Oil Kings (44-11-2-1) got two goals from Dylan Guenther on Saturday night as they rolled to a 14th consecutive win beating the Swift Current Broncos (20-30-5-2) 5-1 at the Innovation Credit Union I-Plex.
The Oil Kings and Broncos picked up right where they left off from the night previous, engaging in a tight-checking opening 20 minutes that saw just one goal off the stick of Justin Sourdif to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead after one period of play.
The Florida Panthers prospect took a drop pass from Kaiden Guhle in the right-wing circle, deked around a defender and snapped a quick shot through a screen that snuck through Swift Current goaltender Isaac Poulter for his 19th goals of the season and 10th with the Oil Kings at 14:44 of the period. With the primary assist on the play, Guhle recorded his 100th career WHL point.
The teams combined for just 12 shots on goal in the first with the Oil Kings outshooting the Broncos 7-5.
The Oil Kings got two quick goals to start the second period to build a 3-0 lead.
First, on an Oil Kings power play, Logan Dowhaniuk zipped a passed to the top of the left-circle for a locked and loaded Simon Kubicek who pumped a one-timer past Poulter his 14th goal of the season at 3:02 of the middle stanza.
Just 1:32 later, Kubicek factored into the offence again as he made a perfect outlet pass to Carter Souch in the neutral zone to send him in on a two-on-one rush with Guenther and Souch would find Guenther with a beautiful saucer pass that Guenther pounded to the back of the net for his 37th goal of the season and first of two on the night.
The Oil Kings had several chances to add to their lead as they fired 14 shots the way of Poulter in the middle stanza but had to settle for the 3-0 lead after forty minutes of play.
Josh Williams added a second power play goal for the Oil Kings midway through the third period to give Edmonton a 4-0 cushion as he put home a rebound off a Guenther shot.
Guenther added his second of the evening with just under two minutes left in the game as he sped past a Swift Current defender, powered his way to the front of the net and elevated a shot over the glove of Poulter.
The Broncos snapped the shutout bid for Sebastian Cossa getting a goal from Alexei Shanaurin with .1 second left on the clock.
Cossa finished the night making 20 saves for his league-leading 30th win, while Poulter made 26 saves for the Broncos. The Oil Kings went two-for-six on the power play, the Broncos were zero-for-six.
Next up, the Oil Kings return to Rogers Place on Wednesday night when they welcome the Saskatoon Blades to town at 7:00 PM.
NOTES:
- Justin Sourdif is now on an 11-game point streak (8G, 13A).
- Dylan Guenther is now on a six-game point streak (5G, 7A).
- Jalen Luypen is now on a four-game point streak (4G, 2A).
- Sebastian Cossa has now won nine straight starts.
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.
