Oil Kings rout Royals 8-2 on the Island
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Victoria, BC - The Edmonton Oil Kings made a statement in their first trip to Victoria on Tuesday night as they tallied a lopsided 8-2 win over the hometown Royals. Michael St. Croix led the way with two goals and two assists including the game winning goal. The New York Rangers draft pick extended his current point streak to 11 games with an amazing six goals and 13 assists over that span.
B.C. born prospect Curtis Lazar showed he was ready to play in his home province as the star rookie opened the scoring on the Oil Kings first shot of the game just 33 seconds in. The goal was the 16 year old phenom's sixth of the season and his 13th point which moves him into the the Top Ten of the WHL Rookie Scoring race. Victoria would answer back with an equalizer midway through the first on the power play but American Cody Corbett tallied his first WHL goal with less than three minutes remaining in the first to regain the lead for Edmonton 2-1. St.Croix would then notch his first of the evening and the eventual game winner on the power play five minutes into the second. The Oil Kings would take over from there as Overage Rhett Rachniski was able to crash the net and jam home his fifth of the season midway through the period to put Edmonton up 4-1.
Victoria showed some push back as they would tally their second of the night just over five minutes later, but their comeback would be immediately answered as Stephane Legault scored his 7th of the season just 17 seconds later. The October Blue Willow unsung hero would finish the night with a pair of goals and an assist earning second star honours. Just minutes later Latvian Kristians Pelss would snap home his 8th of the season to make it a 6-2 game going into the third. Pelss and Legault now share the team lead with 8 goals a piece.
Early in the third St. Croix would score his second of the night on the power play before Legault added the eighth and final goal of the night to give the Oil Kings an 8-2 win in their first ever modern era match up with the Royals.
In total, the Oil Kigs had six different players light the lamp and six players with multi point games. Captain Mark Pysyk had a pair of assists to give him seven points in his last three games as he continues his push for a spot on Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors in Edmonton and Calgary. T.J Foster had three assists to bring his total to 20 points through 18 games - good for second on the team in scoring.
Edmonton's power play went 2 for 3 on the night while holding the Royals to 1 for 4 with the man advantage and out shooting the homeside 35-19. With the win the Oil Kings road record goes to 6-3-1-1 while their overall record goes to 11-5-1-1, good enough for sole possession of third in the WHL's Central division.
The Oil Kings will continue their four game in five night road trip tomorrow in Vancouver. Puck drop is set for 8:00 MST. All games this season will be broadcast live on the TEAM 1260 and streamed live at WHL.ca and fans note that tomorrow night's matchup against the Giants will be broadcast live as the Shaw WHL Game of the Week.
The Oil Kings will make their return to Rexall Place on November 18th for Military Night presented by ATB Financial. Edmonton Oilers Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Smyth, Sam Gagner and Devan Dubnyk will be in attendance as the Edmonton Oil Kings take on the Prince Albert Raiders. These five Edmonton Oilers are featured in the Oil Kings World Junior Bobblehead series and all have Canadian Hockey League and World Junior Hockey Championship experience. Smyth (1995), Dubnyk (2006), Gagner (2007), Eberle (2009/2010) and Hall (2010). Any fan with a ticket to the game will automatically be entered to win a chance to attend a private meet and greet with these five amazing players.
Oil Kings hockey is Edmonton’s best family entertainment value. The 2011-12 season of Oil Kings hockey is presented by Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) Canada and features new reduced pricing with great seats starting at just $15 and premium seating locations starting at just $20.
Oil Kings tickets are available online at OilKings.ca, via phone at 780-414-GOAL or at any Ticketmaster outlet.
