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Losing Streak Over! Tulsa Wins 6-2 Over Thunder
Steer, Toninato Score a Pair as Oilers Snap Winless Stretch
January 11, 2003
by Janna Kinder TulsaHockey.net
The nightmare of a seven-game losing streak ended for the Tulsa Oilers Saturday night at the Kansas Coliseum as Tulsa dropped the Wichita Thunder 6-2 in a
hard fought, chippy match between the bitter divisional rivals.
Tulsa's win was an important one, as both Oklahoma City and Amarillo won their Saturday night games, with the Blazers defeating the Fort
Worth Brahmas 7-5 and the Rattlers dropping the San Angelo Saints 5-4 in overtime. The victory was Tulsa's first since a 2-1 win over Fort Worth on December 27.
The Blazers currently sit atop the
Northwest Division with 50 points, while Tulsa holds the second spot with 49 points. The Rattlers are in third place in the Northwest with 42 points, but have 5 games in hand on both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
Wichita's Peter MacKellar gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead, backhanding a wraparound shot off the leg of Tulsa netminder Rod Branch and into the net at 16:26 of the first period for his 18th goal of year.
Assists went to Jason Duda and Pat Stachniak.
With Wichita forward Tom Gomes in the penalty box, the Oilers knotted the score at 1 at 8:49 of the second period when Dallas Anderson deflected a shot by
defenseman Jorin Welsh past Thunder goaltender Patrik Lovisek for his 6th goal of the year and 4th goal in the last 3 games. Defenseman Mike Johnson was given the secondary assist.
Wichita re-claimed
the lead at 12:31 of the second when Jeff Petruic converted on a backhander from the left wing side, beating Branch stickside for his 18th goal of the season, assisted by Jeff Leiter and Aaron Plumb.
Tulsa's Jamie Steer pulled the Oilers even at 2 at 1:32 of third period when rookie defenseman Jordon Flodell collected a rebound off a shot by Jared Reigstad and fed the puck to Steer, who blasted a shot
from the right wing into the net for his 18th goal of the season.
The Oilers went up 3-2 when veteran forward Todd Marcellus scored during a 4 on 3 power play at 6:27 of the third, collecting a
rebound outside the Thunder net and lighting the lamp for his 23rd goal of the year. Welsh and Mike Mohr were given the helpers on Marcellus' tally.
The Oilers gained a two goal cushion at 16:23 of
the third when Marcellus stole a pass and fed the puck to Steer, who drove a shot from the right circle, beating Lovisek stickside for his second goal of the game.
Tulsa's Derek Toninato got his first
of two power play goals at 19:05 of the third, with the Oiler forward cashing in a one timer from inside left wing circle upon receiving a feed from Steer on the wing, giving the Oilers a 5-2 lead.
Seven seconds later, Toninato closed out the scoring at 19:12 of the third, assisted by Klage Kaebel and Welsh.
The Oilers travel to Indianapolis this Wednesday to face the Ice for a 7:00 p.m. match.
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