Edmonton Oil Kings

Oil Kings get physical and blow past Hurricanes 4-1

February 20, 2010

EDMONTON, AB- Cameron Abney was brought into the Edmonton Oil Kings for his physical presence.

On Friday night against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the team put forth one of their most physical games of the season and Abney was front and centre leading the charge in a 4-1 win on Faith and Family Night at Rexall Place.

Abney scored his first goal as an Oil King and dished out a ton of punishment. Their top line of Michael St. Croix, Garry Nunn and T.J. Foster combined for six points led by St. Croix’s two goals and Sebastian Svendsen tallied the other marker for Edmonton.

Foster and Nunn would finish with two assists a piece.

Both teams combined for 60 minutes in penalties on a night that featured three fights in the second period in a very entertaining game that had lots of goals, some big hits and some good bouts.

“It was good to see. We’ve needed something like that for a long time,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau.

“That is what brings teams together and gets you to care for each other and realize what’s on the line and what you’re playing for.

“It’s confidence, and it’s excitement to play the game. (The feeling of) ‘We’re in this one, we can win this one, we’re watching out for each other’. We’ve got something going here and that’s what happens.”

Abney’s and his linemates Michael Burns and Mike Piluso were in the starting lineup. They set the tone early and the rest of the team followed.

On the very next shift St. Croix opened the scoring when he jumped on a puck in the slot and snapped a hard shot over the blocker of Brandon Anderson to give the Oil Kings an early 1-0 lead.

“Cameron Abney tonight was awesome and he didn’t even fight,” said Pleau.

“He threw his body around, he went to the net. He did a lot of little things.”

The Oil Kings potent offensive trio, have now combined for 35 points in their last seven games.

“St. Croix, Nunn and Foster were all real good tonight,” added Pleau.

“Foster’s speed was so visible . I hope there were some NHL scouts watching him because his speed was backing off their defence all night.”

Cam Lanigan made 31 saves to improve his record to 5-11-2-3. He was particularly strong in the opening frame where he made 13 saves.

Austin Fyten spoiled his shutout bid with an early second period marker, but St. Croix’s second goal of the game and Abney’s first as an Oil King gave Edmonton a 3-1 lead and they started to take over the game on all fronts.

Abney was buzzing around the net creating a lot of scoring chances, just before his goal, he was robbed on a great chance in the slot, but he caught a break on his first goal. It may not have been highlight reel material, but he’ll take it.

“I touched the puck and then when I hit their (defenceman) over in front of the net, the other (defenceman) was scrambling to get away from my hit and he tried to get rid of the puck and it went right in his own net,” said Abney describing the goal.

“It sure wasn’t pretty, but it was nice to get the monkey off my back with my new team… I’ll take it.”

With the victory, the Oil Kings managed to post their first win of the season against the Hurricanes, who have been a thorn in the side of the Oil Kings all year.

It was an impressive performance on all fronts and a game they can use to build confidence as they push towards the end of the season.

“We stuck to our game plan. Sometimes we have some games where we come out hard and then we come out flat in the second period. It’s kind of cliché, but it’s all about having a good 60 minutes,” said Abney

“We racked up the hits tonight. They were scared to get the puck. You could tell when they would chip the puck in they would just let us get the puck.

“If we play like this all the time, I don’t see how we’re going to lose. We have a good enough team to win.
“We have another two games this weekend and we have to play the exact same way.”

It was an entertaining game both on the ice and off the ice as Christian teen punk band Mission Six rocked the crowd during intermission.

The Oil Kings will continue their three-game in three night weekend when they host the Prince George Cougars Saturday night for our first ever Pups on the Pond event.

Tickets are still available and you can call 780-414-GOAL or visit any Ticketmaster location or visit oilkings.ca for more information.