ELECTRIC THIRD PERIOD LIFTSOILERS OVER STEELHEADS
Tulsascores three unanswered third-period goals to defeat Idaho, bringing the seasonseries 4-1 in the Oilers’ favor.
BOISE, ID— The Oilers rode a three-goal third period and a34-save performance from Olle Eriksson Ek to defeat the Steelheads 4-1 atCenturyLink Arena on Wednesday.
Neither squad found the back of the net in theopening frame, with Jake Kupsky stopping 10 shots in his ECHL debut. Eriksson Ek stopped all six chances sent his way in the opening 20 minutes.
The deadlock was broken 6:06 into the second framewhen Jacob Benson tipped Charlie Granath’s point blast into the back of thenet. Jeff King answered at the 9:03 mark, walking in all alone off a turnoverto tie the game.
The Oilers surged in the final frame, starting atthe 8:38 mark with Danny Moynihan’s 12th of the season. Moynihanpopped the puck into the back of the net off a feed from Adam Pleskach. FormerSteelhead Jack Nevins, who picked up the secondary assist, started Moynihan’sgo-ahead goal with a dump-and-chase play. Benson tallied his second of the night at the 12:12 mark of the period, once again displaying his top-notch hand-eyecoordination by batting Jake Clifford’s cross-zone laser past Kupsky, bringing thescore to 3-1. Moynihan sealed the 4-1 winwith a short-handed empty netter from his own zone at the 17:44 mark of thethird period.
Eriksson Ek stopped 34 of 35 shots, earning TullyLaw Firm first-star honors for the second-straight night, allowing the Oilers to take a 4-1 series lead over the Steelheads.
The Oilers will rematch the Steelheads atCenturyLink Arena on Friday and Saturday night at 8:10 p.m. CST.
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