Tulsa Drops First Game of the Season
October 19, 2003
By TulsaHockey.net

Tonight's contest between the Oilers and the Thunder had all of the makings of a fight filled extravaganza. What we got instead was a remarkably defensive hockey game.

Tonight's opening frame with the Wichita Thunder was scoreless. Fine defensive play on both ends by Carney for Wichita and Kelleher for Tulsa. The minor penalties were pretty even on both sides as Aaron Millar was called for tripping at 3:33 of the period and Mark Scott was called for roughing at 17:08. For the fight card fans, the only match occurred between Ryan Olynyk and Mark Scott at the 17:08 mark of the period which was pretty much a draw as no punches really connected.

Things got a bit more interesting in the second frame. After getting a taste of Coach Derek Laxdal's new and improved neutral zone trap, the scoring started at 13:27 of the period on a power play goal by Travis Clayton while Marion Koleda was in the box for tripping. That goal looked like it would hold up for the rest of the game. Kelleher stood on his head this period as well, shutting down a two man advantage in the period. Tulsa had eleven straight successful penalty kills until this one.

The third period was spent mostly in the Wichita offensive zone. The Thunder just seemed content to dump the puck when ever it touched a Thunder stick. The Thunder worked very hard to protect the one goal lead they had. Well it didn't work. With Kelleher pulled for the extra skater, at 19:47 of the last frame Dan Gravelle poked in the tying goal assisted by Jason Bermingham and Todd Marcellus. Here we go to the first overtime of our young season……

It did not take long for thunder to strike. On a bobbled pass in the neutral zone, a two-on-one was created. Just thirty eight seconds into the overtime period Jason Duda got his second point of the night on an assist to Chad Mazurak
 

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