Crown Chronicles: Oil Kings Strike Back
The Edmonton Oil Kings hosted three Eastern Conference rivals this past week with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes all making stops to Rogers Place with the Oil Kings going 2-1-0-0 in the trio of games.
After getting rocked by an 8-1 final against the Warriors on Tuesday, the Oil Kings struck back with 13 unanswered goals in 7-0 and 6-0 wins over the Broncos and ‘Canes respectively over the weekend.
The Oil Kings got a big boost to their lineup this week with Jakub Demek suiting up for the first time since December 15 after missing 11 games due to the World Junior Championship and a subsequent upper-body injury. In his return, he picked up a goal and an assist against the Broncos.
Sitting at 29-10-2-1 on the season, the Oil Kings maintain a four-point cushion atop the Central Division and have now tied the Winnipeg ICE in points for top spot in the conference, though the ICE have four games in hand.
Highlight of the Week
Dylan Guenther has been filling the back of the net all season long as he currently ranks fourth amongst all WHL goal scorers and he hit the 25-goal mark this weekend in style.
Weekly Review
Oil Kings 1 vs Moose Jaw 8 (Tuesday)
The Warriors handed the Oil Kings their worst loss since February 25, 2018 as they scored early and often in their final visit to Rogers Place this season. Dylan Guenther recorded the Oil Kings only goal of the game. The Warriors were led by multi-point performances from Brayden Yager (2G, 3A), Jagger Firkus (1G, 3A), Atley Calvert (2G), Ryder Korczak (3A) and Daemon Hunt (1G, 1A).
Oil Kings 7 vs Swift Current 0 (Saturday)
The Oil King hosted their annual Star Wars Night on Saturday with the Swift Current Broncos in town. After being held in check through 20 minutes, the Oil Kings erupted for six goals in the second period. Captain Jake Neighbours led the charge with a three-point night (1G, 2A), while Carter Souch had a pair of goals. Kiaden Guhle (1G, 1A), Dylan Guenther (2A), Josh Williams (2A), Justin Sourdif (2A) and Jakub Demek (1G, 1A) all had multi-point efforts.
Oil Kings 6 vs Lethbridge 0 (Sunday)
The Oil Kings picked up right from where they left off from the night previous as Dylan Guenther opened the floodgates just 1:39 into the hockey game with his first of three on the night and the Oil Kings never looked back scoring two goals in each of the three periods. Sebastian Cossa recorded his league-best fourth shutout of the season.
Three Stars of the Week
3. #44 Carter Souch – A mid-game shuffling of lines against the Swfit Current Broncos landed the fifth year Oil Kings forward on a line with Dylan Guenther and Justin Sourdif and the trio found instant chemistry. Souch finished the week with three goals and an assist and enters this week on a run of back-to-back multi-point games.
2. #33 Sebastian Cossa – The Oil Kings crease guardian, and the rest of the team for that matter, saw his week get off to a rocky start against the Moose Jaw Warriors, but the towering Edmonton netminder bounced back over the weekend recording back-to-back shutouts making 11 saves on Saturday and 24 on Sunday. He becomes the first Oil Kings goaltender to register back-to-back shutouts since Tristan Jarry did so on November 5 and 6 of 2013. Entering this week, Cossa has a shutout streak of 124:27; Jarry holds the franchise record at 197:44.
1. #11 Dylan Guenther – Oil Kings forward Dylan Guenther has been on a goal scoring tear since the calendar flipped to January. The Arizona Coyotes first-rounder has goals in six of his last seven games, finding the back of the net nine times in total during that run. This past week, he notched four goals and three assists in three games, including his second hat-trick of the season, third of his career, on Sunday in his team’s 6-0 win over the Hurricanes while also chipping in an assist. Over a current eight-game point streak, he has tallied 18 points (9G, 9A).
Quick Hits
- The Edmonton Oil Kings set a franchise record for fewest shots against in a game on Saturday against the Swift Current Broncos, allowing just 11 shots.
- Carter Souch recorded his 50th career WHL goal on Saturday against the Swift Current Broncos.
- Josh Williams and Justin Sourdif recorded their 100th career WHL assists on Saturday against the Swift Current Broncos.
- Jaxsen Wiebe skated in his 100th career WHL game on Sunday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
- Sebastian Cossa recorded his 11th and 12th career shutouts on Saturday and Sunday and has surpassed Laurent Brossoit for the second most shutouts in an Oil Kings career. Tristan Jarry holds the franchise record for career shutouts with 17.
- Jakub Demek saw his 18-game point streak come to an end on Sunday. The point streak was the longest by a Slovakian import player in CHL history.
Next Up
The Oil Kings wrap up their five-game homestand on Wednesday, February 2 when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to town at 7:00 PM. The Oil Kings are 2-0-0-1 against Medicine Hat this year and picked up an 8-2 win the last time these clubs hooked up back on December 3.
This weekend will see the Oil Kings on the road in Northern Saskatchewan as they tangle with the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night at the SaskTel Centre before wrapping up the week on Saturday in Prince Albert against the Raiders. Puck drop for both road games is slated for 6:00 PM MT. You can listen to both games at oilkings.ca/radio starting at 5:50 PM with the Oil Kings pregame show.
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, February 2 when they welcome the Medicine Hat Tigers to Rogers Place at 7:00 PM.