GAME SUMMARY: Oil Kings drop pre-season opener
Edmonton, AB – The Edmonton Oil Kings opened their pre-season with a narrow 4-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena.
A penalty filled first period hampered the Oil Kings in the early going as they found themselves shorthanded on four separate occasions in the opening 20 minutes, leading to a pair of power play goals for the Blades from Conner Roulette and Jordan Keller.
Late in the first period, the Oil Kings were able to halve the Saskatoon lead just before the intermission as a pair of newcomers hooked up on a two-on-one rush with Luca Hauf spotting Rhett Melnyk who made no mistake firing the puck past the blocker of Blades netminder Austin Elliott.
The Oil Kings briefly levelled the score 2-2 after Ethan MacKenzie rocketed a one-timer off the cross-bar and in on an Edmonton power play with just over two-and-a-half minutes left in the middle stanza, but the Blades were able to quickly restore their one-goal advantage thanks to a goal from Lukas Hansen just 1:42 later.
Early in the third period, the Blades pushed their lead back to two after Roulette tucked home his second of the evening off a cross-ice setup from Josh Pillar just over a minute into the frame.
The Oil Kings were able to get one goal back after Ethan Peters connected on a centering pass from Gavin Hodnett after the first-year Oil King forward was able to dance around a defender near the goal line.
The Oil Kings had a handful of chances in the final moments to tie the game but could not solve Elliott for a fourth time.
Kolby Hay finished the night making 22 saves for the Oil Kings, while Elliott turned aside 20 in the Blades crease. The Oil Kings went 1-for-6 on the power play, the Blades were 2-for-5.
Next up, the Oil Kings and Blades are back at it tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 PM at the Downtown Community Arena, tickets are just $10 at the door.
Edmonton Oil Kings Season Seats, Flex-Packs, Weekend Passes and Single-Game Tickets are on-sale now! Head to oilkings.ca to secure your seat in #TheKingdom.
