GAME SUMMARY: Horstmann Heroics; Oil Kings draw first blood in Conference Championship Series
Winnipeg, MB – The Edmonton Oil Kings staved off a frantic comeback effort from the Winnipeg ICE in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Championship thanks to an overtime goal from Tyler Horstmann on Friday night at the Wayne Fleming Arena.
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTOS
The ICE would be the first to get on the board in the series after Mikey Milne staked the home-side to the lead after he raced into the Edmonton zone on a one-on-one rush against an Oil King defender, made a power move to his backhand and elevated a shot over the right-shoulder of Cossa at 8:34 of the first period.
The goal seemed to provide a jolt for Edmonton though as right after they began a consistent attack in the Winnipeg zone for the final 10 minutes of the period and at the 13:08 mark, Dylan Guenther tied the game with his 10th goal of the playoffs. After Justin Sourdif had a shot blocked from the right-wing wall, the puck caromed to Guenther in the slot, and after his initial shot was blocked he was able to follow-up and poke the puck over the glove of Daniel Hauser, giving him a goal in nine straight games this post-season.
#SpicyDyl, checking in as he does!
Make it NINE straight #WHLPlayoffs games with a goal for the @ArizonaCoyotes prospect.@EdmOilKings | #WPGvsEDM pic.twitter.com/AyGvyPfybT
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 21, 2022
Guenther had an opportunity to give Edmonton the lead on a late power play in the first after he turnstiled a Winnipeg defenceman in the right-circle but had his shot blockered away by Hauser.
The Oil Kings outshot the ICE 15-7 in the first period as the two team’s reached the intermission tied 1-1.
In the second period, the Oil Kings erupted for three goals in the opening 7:30 of the middle stanza to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.
Less than a minute into the period, Simon Kubicek notched a shorthanded marker with a heavy wrist shot from the right-circle over the blocker-arm of Hauser after being sprung on a two-on-one rush thanks to a perfect long-bomb pass from Luke Prokop.
Make a long line change when Luke Prokop is on the ice at your peril.
He sends an expedited parcel to Simon Kubicek, and the @EdmOilKings have the lead in Game 1!@PredsNHL | #WHLPlayoffs | #WPGvsEDM pic.twitter.com/jMtogTeOkk
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 21, 2022
The Oil Kings power play then connected at the 7:02 mark with Guenther collecting his second of the night and league-leading 11th of the playoffs after he took a cross-ice pass from Jakub Demek, skated to the slot and fired off a toe-drag wrister past the right-arm of Hauser.
https://twitter.com/TheWHL/status/1527819392674803712?s=20&t=ry1wSk_Koy03K-c_g6rO-A
Just 28 seconds later, the Oil Kings found the back of the net again as on a delayed penalty to the ICE, Tyler Horstmann made a nice pass at the Winnipeg blue line to a hard-charging Logan Dowhaniuk who whistled a shot under the pads of Hauser from the bottom of the left-circle for his first career playoff goal. Hauser was replaced by Gage Alexander after giving up four goals on 21 shots.
https://twitter.com/TheWHL/status/1527820279455416320?s=20&t=ry1wSk_Koy03K-c_g6rO-A
In the third period, the ICE would rattle off three quick goals of their own to send the game into overtime tied 4-4.
At 6:48 of the period, Benjamin Zloty got the ICE on the comeback trail as on a power play he had a seam pass tip off an Oil Kings stick and past Cossa to give Winnipeg life.
Just two-and-a-half minutes later, Zloty notched his second of the night after completing a give-and-go with Matthew Savoie.
Owen Pederson squared the game just over two minutes later as he was left alone in front of the Edmonton net, took a pass and made a move to his backhand for a power play tally to send the game to OT.
Overtime, though, would not last long as just 1:07 into the bonus period, Horstmann put the game away after Josh Williams poked the puck away from Alexander behind his net to Horstmann in the slot who made no mistake launching it past the sprawling Winnipeg goaltender.
Tyler Horstmann is the Game 1 WHOA-vertime hero for the @EdmOilKings!#WHLPlayoffs | #WPGvsEDM pic.twitter.com/F2Z2tVCbRs
— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 21, 2022
Despite the quick end to overtime, the ICE weren’t without their opportunity to end it as just 28 seconds in Cole Muir was denied by Cossa on a partial breakaway.
Cossa finished the night making 22 saves, while Alexander took the loss after giving up just one goal on the 19 shots he faced. The Oil Kings went 1-for-4 on the power play, the ICE were 2-for-6.
Next up, the Oil Kings and ICE are right back at it tomorrow night at the Wayne Fleming Arena for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Championship Series, puck drop is slated for 6:00 PM MT.
Edmonton Oil Kings Playoff Passes are on-sale now. For only $129/seat, you get access to every Oil Kings home playoff game. The more we play, the less you pay! To purchase, click here.
The Oil Kings next home game is Monday, May 23 when they welcome the Winnipeg ICE to Rogers Place at 7:00 PM for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Championship Series.
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