GAME SUMMARY: Oil Kings fend off pesky Pats
Edmonton, AB – The Edmonton Oil Kings (32-11-2-1) staved off a third period surge from the Regina Pats (16-22-1-1) Tuesday afternoon in their annual Hockey Hooky game as they secured a 6-3 win at Rogers Place.
Shortly after finishing his morning coffee, Jaxsen Wiebe found himself on the scoresheet as just 2:09 into the first period he staked the Oil Kings to a 1-0 lead after taking a nifty pass from Tyler Horstmann at the side of the Regina net and banking home a shot off Pats goaltender Kelton Pyne.
The Oil Kings expanded on their lead just under five minutes later as Dylan Guenther scorched a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Pyne from the left-circle on an Edmonton power play for his team leading 28th goal of the year.
the Pats weren’t without their chances in the first period as Sebastian Cossa came up with a handful of key stops on Regina’s seven first period shots to keep his team up by two at the first intermission.
Less than a minute into the second period, the Oil Kings took a 3-0 lead on a shorthanded marker from Jalen Luypen. The Chicago Blackhawks prospect stole the puck just inside his own blue line and with his great speed, darted the the length of the ice and from the right-circle he lasered a shot past the blocker arm of Pyne.
The Pats were able to get one goal back in the second period as defenceman Stanislav Svozil intercepted an outlet pass at the Edmonton line, drove to the net and flicked home a backhander on a nice deke.
A slow start to the third period nearly proved costly for the Oil Kings as they surrendered two quick goals in the opening 2:16 of the final frame to allow the Pats to draw even. Svozil added his second of the day with a power play marker as he got a shot a threw a screen from the right-circle, while Connor Bedard notched his 25th goal of the season just over a minute later with a heavy wrist shot from the slot on a great setup from Tanner Howe.
The Oil Kings were able to retake the lead less than two minutes later however as Luke Prokop jumped on a loose puck in the right-circle and tossed it towards the net where Jakub Demek would redirect in his 15th goal of the campaign.
At the 11:59 mark of the third period, Simon Kubicek gave his team some breathing room as he blitzed a one-timer past Pyne from the left circle on a nice rink-wide dish from Prokop to make it 5-3 with his 12th goal of the season.
Josh Williams finished off the scoring with just over 90 seconds left on the clock as he loaded up and picked a corner with a shot from the right-circle.
Cossa finished the game with 17 saves, while Pyne turned away 36 shots in his WHL debut. The Oil Kings went two-for-seven on the power play, the Pats were one-for-four.
Next up, the Oil Kings hit the road to take on the Red Deer Rebels at the Peavey Mart Centrium this Friday at 7:00 PM, you can listen to the game at oilkings.ca/radio.
NOTES:
- Jalen Luypen’s shorthanded goal was the sixth of his career, giving him a share of the franchise record with Rhett Rachinski and T.J. Foster).
- Jake Neighbours is now on a 10-game point streak (7G, 12A).
- Josh Williams is now on a four-game point streak (2G, 5A).
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 Tuesday, February 15 when they welcome the Red Deer Rebels to Rogers Place at 7:00 PM.
