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Oilers Punish Blazers 6-2
New Tusla Signees Key in Crucial Victory Over OKC
February 8, 2003
by Janna Kinder TulsaHockey.net
Continuing to benefit from new additions to their roster, the Tulsa Oilers reclaimed first place in the CHL's Northwest Division Saturday night, dropping the Oklahoma City Blazers 6-2 at the Ford Center in
Oklahoma City.
Tulsa's victory over Oklahoma City snapped a three game losing streak to the Oilers' turnpike rivals, extending their current win streak to three games. Tulsa's last three game winning
streak occured on November 27 when the Oilers won 6-5 in overtime against the Wichita Thunder.
CHL Standings as of February 8, 2003
Former NHL
defenseman Neil Wilkinson opened the scoring at 7:10 of the first period during a 4 on 4 situation, lifting a shot from the slot past Oklahoma City goaltender Boyd Ballardto give the Oilers a 1-0 lead.
Tulsa gained a 2-0 lead when Andrew Oke, another defensive newcomer to the Oiler squad, skated around a Blazer defenseman and put a high shot from deep in the slot into the top right corner of the net at
9:25 of the first. Assists were awarded to Peter MacKellar and veteran Todd Marcellus.
Oklahoma City's Joe Burton cut the Oiler lead to 1 at 1:49 of second, receiving a pass from Blair Manning and
putting a shot from in front past Oiler netminder Rod Branch for his 33rd goal of season.
Tulsa regained a 2 goal lead at 6:34 of the second when defenseman Mike Johnson gathered a rebound off a shot
by Pat Hallett and slipped the puck through Ballard's fivehole for his 2nd goal in as many games and 5th of the year.
Midway through the second period, following an incident involving Oiler forward
Derek Toninato in which he went crashing to the ice, Oke received a gross misconduct and Blazer defenseman Tyler Fleck was handed a roughing double minor. The Blazers successfully killed off the 4 minute
Oiler power play.
Tulsa would not be denied for long, however, as MacKellar gave the Oilers a 4-1 lead during a Tulsa power play at 15:50 of the second period. Upon receiving a pass from Marcellus at
the left hash mark, MacKellar put a high shot from the top of the right circle over Ballard's shoulder for his 20th goal of the season. Johnson, who received the secondary assist on the goal, managed to hold
the puck in the Blazer zone on a clearing attempt, setting up the chain of events that led to the Oiler goal.
Tulsa increased their lead to 5-1 at 6:12 of the third period when Ballard was caught out
of position and Oiler forward Aaron Millar fed the puck from the right side to Hallett on the left, who banged it into the empty net for his 16th goal of the season.
The Blazers reduced the Oiler lead
to 3 when Marty Standish received a dump pass near the Oiler zone, moved in on Branch, cut to his left, and beat the Oiler goaltender stickside for a shorthanded goal at 9:28 of third.
Hallett quickly
answered with a power play goal at 9:55 of third, giving Tulsa a 6-2 lead and sealing the win. Assists were given to Millar and veteran defenseman Regan Harper.
The Oilers return to the Tulsa
Convention Center for a Sunday afternoon game against the El Paso Buzzards. The puck drops at 2:00 p.m. |
