OIL DROPS: Tulsa Oilers Weekly Report – Feb. 24

OILERS MOVE ONE POINT OUT OF PLAYOFF SPOT

Tulsa goes 1-1-1 before heading to Rapid City for biggest week of the season

OVERALL RECORD: 26-25-6-1  (59 points, 5th in Mountain Division)

LAST WEEK:  1-1-1-0

RESULTS

Tuesday Feb. 18 – Tulsa 0, Allen 4 (Allen Event Center — Allen, TX) | Box Score

>>  ALLEN, TX — Kayle Doetzelscored his first of the season for the opening tally of the game. Guptill dropped the puck on a backhand pass, allowing Doetzel to rip one from the left point past Devin Williams 4:35 into the game. Mitch McLain pulled the Americans ahead by two, roofing an in-tight rebound off another left-point shot from Doetzel with 1:25 remaining in the opening period. Both teams were scoreless in the second period. Tulsa had 12 shots in comparison to Allen’s nine. Dereck Baribeau had a total of 28 saves between the two frames.

Doetzel scored his second of the season and second of the game at the 5:46 mark of the third period to give the Americans  3-0 lead. Doetzel tapped it quickly past Williams off a circle-to-circle pass. Les Lancaster joined in on the scoring at the 9:53 mark. The defenseman scored a goal similar to the Americans third. It was great passing on the power play from Jordan Topping and Olivier Archambault and that allowed Lancaster to close the game out at 4-0.

Fridady,  Feb. 20  — Tulsa 5, Allen 3 (Allen Event Center — Allen, TX)| Box Score

>> ALLEN,TX  — The Oilers drew first blood against the Red Army, opening the scoring at 13:41 of the frame, Oilers’ leading point getter J.J, Piccincih picked up the puck from Jared Thomas before finding Steven Ruggiero, who was sneaking in from the point. The defenseman blew a puck through the five hole of Dereck Baribeau, ending his back-to-back game shutout streak. Jordan Topping’s 22nd of the season tied the action at 1-1 at the 16:06 mark, tapping the puck over the line after Olle Eriksson Ek’s initial save. The goal was reviewed, but stood.

The Oilers dominated the second period, Cory Ward smacked the puck off of an American player’s stick into the back of the net to make the game 2-1 at the 3:04 mark of the second period. Piccinich extended the Tulsa lead to 3-1 with a goal of his own, courtesy of his new line mate, Robby Jackson at the 8:23 mark of the second period. Matt Register passed the puck from behind his own net directly setting up  Charlie Sampair, who made no mistake in giving the Oilers a 4-1 lead 14:44 into the second period. Piccinich returned the favor on Jackson’s earlier assist, feeding Jackson a beautiful, back-door feed that the rookie tapped in for his 19th goal on the season. Topping scored his second of the game with .3 second left in the middle frame to bring the score to 5-2 headed into the second intermission.No one found the back of the net in the final frame until Allen’s Jared VanWormer scored with six seconds left, closing the game out at 5-3.

Sunday Feb. 23  — Tulsa 1, Allen 2 (OT)  (BOK Center — Tulsa, OK)| Box Score

>> TULSA OK — It was the goaltenders that stole the show at the BOK Center on Sunday, with the Allen Americans winning the week’s rubber match 2-1 in overtime. Head Coach Rob Murray’s former ward Olivier Archambault scored his 17th of the season to open the scoring with just 1:58 remaining in a back-and-forth opening frame. Olle Eriksson Ek stopped Stepan Falkovsky’s initial shot and stopped Spencer Asuchak before Archambault crammed the puck into the back of the cage. Both teams ended the active period with 16 shots each.Tulsa answered the bell 4:55 into the second period to tie the game 1-1. Jared Thomas and J.J. Piccinich passed back-and-forth as they entered the American’s zone, creating a channel for former Allen American Miles Liberati to sneak in and complete the tic-tac-toe play for his 10th of the season. Liberati’s tally was the only in a period that saw Tulsa outshoot Allen 17-5.

 Both goaltenders stood on their heads in the final frame, stopping a combined 26 shots, Jake Paterson turned aside 15 and Eriksson Ek saved 11.

Overtime played out the way the season’s statistics would suggest. Coming into the night, Allen led the league with nine overtime wins, while the Oilers had won just one game in the three-on-three battle. Josh Lammon blew down the right-wing wall before cutting in front of Eriksson Ek and sliding the puck through the five hole, giving the Americans their 10th overtime win just 1:09 into the extra frame.

THE WEEK AHEAD (all times CST)

Friday, Feb. 28  –  Tulsa AT Rapid City 8:05 p.m. – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center

Saturday, Feb. 29– Tulsa AT Rapid City 8:05 p.m. – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center

Sunday, March 1– Tulsa AT Rapid City 5:05 p.m. – Rushmore Plaza Civic Center

FAST FACTS

·  Devin Williams was the Warrior Hockey/ECHL Goaltender of the Week.

. Jared Thomas has eights points in his last six games.

· J.J. Piccinich has 11 points in his last seven games.

. Adam Pleskach leads the ECHL with 231 shots.

TEAM TRENDS

·    For the second-straight week, Tulsa sits atop the ECHL with a 36.12 shot-per-game average.

. Tulsa is 1-6 in overtime this year, but 2-1 in the shootout.

. The Oilers are 5-6-2-1 when out shot by their opponent. They are 21-19-2-0 when out shooting their foes.

STATISTICAL LEADERS*

POINTS:                49 – J.J. Piccinich

GOALS:                 19 –Adam Pleskach, Robby Jackson

ASSISTS:               38– J.J. Piccinich

PLUS/MINUS:    +12– Charlie Sampair, Cam Knight

PIMS:                    114 – Mike McKee

PP GOALS:           7 – Adam Pleskach  

SH GOALS:           1– Jared Thomas, Mike McKee, Danny Moynihan, Jake Clifford  

GW GOALS:         4 – Robby Jackson

SHOTS:                 231 – Adam Pleskach  

WINS:                    15 – Devin Williams

GAA:                     2.68 – Devin Williams

SAVE %:               .908– Devin Williams

* – Among active players

SPECIAL TEAMS

POWER PLAY:    Overall –30/201 (14.9%) – 22nd in the ECHL

                                Last Week – 0/5 (0%)

PENALTY KILL:   Overall – 181/216 (83.7%) – 7th in the ECHL

                              Last Week – 12/13(92.3%)

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