(Photo by Kevin Pyle – www.photopyle.com)
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS Tuesday, March 29 – VS Colorado Eagles (6-2 L)Wednesday, March 30 – VS Colorado Eagles (4-3 L)Friday, April 1 – @ Quad City Mallards (5-3 L)Saturday, April 2 – @ Evansville IceMen (3-2 W)
THIS WEEK’S GAMESTuesday, April 5 – @ Missouri Mavericks, 7:05 p.m. CDTWednesday, April 6 – @ Wichita Thunder, 7:05 p.m. CDTFriday, April 8 – @ Wichita Thunder, 7:05 p.m. CDTSaturday, April 9 – VS Wichita Thunder, 7:05 p.m. CDT
TEAM CAPSULEOverall: 33-30-3-2 (71 points)Home: 21-10-3-1Road: 12-20-0-1Rank: 3rd in Central Division
TEAM LEADERSGoals: Phil Brewer – 24Assists: Dennis Brown – 28Points: Adam Pleskach – 45+/-: Phil Brewer, Dennis Brown +10PIM: Mathieu Gagnon – 149
WEEK IN REVIEWThe Oilers captured two of a possible eight points this past week. Hosting Colorado and falling to them twice in the BOK Center, Tulsa was able to have more success on the road. The Oilers took their third straight loss on Friday in Quad City but finished off the trip with a win over the IceMen on their last home game for the franchise in the Ford Center.
Tuesday night the Colorado Eagles came in hot scoring six consecutive goals on Kevin Carr. Oilers defensemen Nathan Lutz and Connor Kucera stepped up late in the third period to put Tulsa on the board but ultimately the home team fell 6-2.
Wednesday Nathan Lutz would not be one of the last to score, but rather the first. An early Oilers lead was short lived as the Eagles charged another three goals to put Tulsa down. The final tally went in favor of Colorado, 4-3. Tulsa’s Lutz, Shawn Bates and Roberts Lipsbergs all inked goals.
On the road Friday, newcomers Ben Murphy and Eric Drapluk scored their first professional goals. Despite their achievements and celebrations, their two goals and a Christophe Lalancette tally wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Quad City Mallards, who were victorious 5-3.
The Oilers owned Saturday night in Evansville, Indiana. Tulsa’s losing slump came to an end with a 3-2 win over the IceMen. Adam Pleskach had a pair of goals and Phil Brewer earned his 24th of the season.
LOOKING AHEADTwo Central Division rivals, some Quad City losses and five points stand between the Tulsa Oilers and the Kelly Cup Playoffs. This week, the Oilers will travel to Missouri and Wichita to face their nearby foes before hosting the Thunder in the BOK Center on Saturday for their last home game of the regular season.
Tomorrow the Oilers and Mavericks will dance on the ice one last night before potentially meeting up in Round 1 of the playoffs. No other team has had success over the Mavericks quite the way Tulsa has. The Oilers are 5-5-1-1 against the Mavericks. Over the weekend, the Allen Americans became the only other team with five wins against them. Tulsa will compete for a much needed two points.
The Oilers have a chance to earn six points against the Thunder this week. In their meetings this season, Tulsa is 7-1-1-1 over Wichita. If they can keep up this winning effort, the Oilers may be able to get the points they need, pending a few Mallards losses.
ROAD TO KELLYThe Tulsa Oilers are ninth in the Western Conference Standings—just one spot out of the final playoff position. Tulsa will look to increase their 71 points this week as they have an opportunity for an extra eight. If the Oilers won all four of their games this week and Quad City did a fair share of losing, Tulsa could jump on that magic number and earn a spot.
BITING BATEForward Shawn Bates recently joined the Oilers roster. In his first four games, the newcomer has recorded three goals. Bates, out of Merrimack College, owns five points in six games with the Tulsa. The Vermilion, Alberta native came to the Oilers off waiver claims after spending 17 games in the ECHL with the Atlanta Gladiators.
POWER [PLAY] HOUSEWhen in the BOK Center, the Oilers bring it. In their own home, the Oilers are second in the ECHL on the power play. Tulsa may be in last place on the road with the man advantage but at home they have 21.4% just behind the Fort Wayne Komets. They have 21 total power play goals on 98 attempts in 35 games.
MOOSE MOVESThe Moose still have Oilers’ leading goal scorer, Dan DeSalvo, on loan. DeSalvo, on a contact with Tulsa, made his AHL debut with the Moose where he produced an assist. In his second game, DeSlavo tallied his first AHL goal against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday, March 11. In 11 games, the forward has seven points. Last week goaltender Jussi Olkinoura was both recalled by the Manitoba Moose then reassigned to Tulsa.
#ECHLMarchMASKnessThe ECHL is hosting a social media contest during the month of March. An image of each team’s selected mask will go ‘head to head’ against another in a Twitter poll—giving fans the chance to vote for what they think is cooler. The bracket began with 16 chosen teams–of which the Oilers were selected. Kevin Carr’s special Alzheimer’s mask has advanced through rounds one, two and three. Tonight the Finals will commence between the Oilers ‘#ENDALZ’ mask and the Toledo Walley’s mask. To vote, go to @ECHL’s page on Twitter and vote for Tulsa/Carr on the Twitter poll. Voting will last 24 hours beginning at 8 PM EST.
EXTRA DROPSThe Oilers are fifth in the ECHL in shots against with a 27.66 percentage… Kevin Carr is twelfth among goaltenders with a 2.39 goals against average and third in minutes with 2616… Phil Brewer is third among rookies with 24 goals… Tulsa leads in team high penalty minutes with 109 on 01/02/16…