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Blazers Spoil Oilers' Holiday with 3-2 OT Victory
Burton Scores Twice in OKC's First Win of the Season Over Tulsa
December 25, 2002
by Janna Kinder
TulsaHockey.net
The Grinch stole Christmas from the Tulsa Oilers
Wednesday night at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. The role of the Grinch was played by Blazer center Blair Manning, as the veteran forward scored in overtime to give OKC its first win of the season over
Tulsa.
Despite holding a two goal lead with less than ten minutes left in regulation, the Oilers surrendered a pair of scores to Tulsa nemesis Joe Burton, whose tallies forced the game into the extra
session in which Manning scored from close range to seal the win for OKC in front of 8,322 fans.
Following a scoreless, yet chippy first period, Tulsa's Klage Kaebel collected a rebound to the left of
Blazer netminder Boyd Ballard, sending the puck into the left side of the net at 19:56 of the second period. Defenseman Mike Mohr and left winger Pat Hallett received assists on the power play goal.
The Oilers grabbed a 2-0 lead when forwards Todd Marcellus and Jamie Steer converged on a 2 on 1 rush, with Marcellus feeding a pass from the left side to Steer in the right slot. Steer roofed a shot into
the top right corner of the goal at 11:16 of the third period.
The Blazers cut the Oiler lead in half, when Burton got a piece of a blast from the right circle, glancing the puck off Tulsa netminder
Rod Branch's shoulder and into the net at 11:49 of the third.
Burton struck again at 17:51 of the third, receiving a pass from behind the Tulsa net by Ryan Watson, and scoring on a sharp angled shot
for his 22nd goal of the season.
At 3:07 of the overtime session, Blazer defenseman Hardy Sauter sent the puck in front to Manning, who wrapped it around Branch's left side and into the net to seal
the win for the Blazers.
Tulsa's record dropped to 21-6-2, while the Blazers improved to 16-10-1. Oklahoma City is now 11 points back of the Oilers in the Northwest Division.
Tulsa will look to
rebound this Friday night when they take on the Fort Worth Brahmas. The puck drops at 7:05 at the Fort Worth Convention Center. |
