Oil Kings suffer 5-4 Shootout Loss
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Edmonton, AB - Henrik Samuelsson led the way with a pair of goals and an assist but the Oil Kings came up short in a 5-4 shootout loss on Friday night. The over 8600 in attendance at Rexall Place were treated to another entertaining back and forth match up in true "Battle of Alberta" fashion.
The Oil Kings fell behind early in the first off goals by Calgary's Brooks Macek and Carson Samoridny. Curtis Lazar scored a power play goal for the home team before the period break off nice give and go from Michael St.Croix. Lazar played the puck to St.Croix behind the goal line and one timed a return pass low blocker side on Chris Driedger for his fifth of the year.
Edmonton tied things up in the second as TJ Foster continued his hot play against the Hitmen with his team leading eighth goal of the season. The 20 year old slipped a point shot through for the Oil Kings second power play goal of the night and Foster's sixth against Calgary in their last three meetings.
Momentum continued to shift as the Hitmen took back the lead just 17 seconds later with Macek's second of the night. Samuelsson would answer for the Kings as he tallied back to back goals. His first came off a Lazar rebound and the second off a great feed from Dylan Wruck to give the Oil Kings their first lead of the game. The power play goal was the Oil Kings third on the evening but the lead would not last as the Hitmen scored another equalizer to make it a 4-4 tie after two periods.
A hard fought scoreless third period was highlighted by several good chances including several game saving stops by Driedger. The overtime was the Oil Kings second in under a week with the Hitmen following a 6-5 overtime loss last weekend in Calgary.
Samuelsson was the only successful Oil King in the shootout as Calgary took the extra frame 2-1 for the bonus point and the 5-4 win. Laurent Brossoit made 21 saves while the Oil Kings special teams were perfect going 3 for 3 on the power play and holding the Hitmen to 0 for 2 with the man advantage.
The shoot out loss dropped Edmonton's record to 5-2-1-1 on the season. The Oil Kings will depart Saturday for Cranbrook as they take on the Kootenay Ice on Sunday. Game time from the Cranbrook Rec Plex is set for 6:00 p.m. MDT. All games this season will be broadcast live on the TEAM 1260 and streamed live at WHL.ca.
PURCHASE TICKETS / GAME DAY PHOTOS
The Oil Kings return to Rexall Place on Wednesday, October 17th to take on the Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers have been the class of the Western Conference with a 7-0-0-1 record entering this weekend. It will be a showdown of CHL BMO Masterdard Top 10 teams with the number 9 ranked Oil Kings welcoming the number 2 ranked Blazers.
Tickets are available at OILKINGS.CA, at the Rexall Place Box Office or at Ticketmaster outlets. For more information on season seats or flex packs, call 780-414-GOAL (4625). The Oil Kings 2012-13 season is presented by JLT, Insurance & Risk Management.
