Tulsa World: Oilers win home opener

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Oilers win home opener
Sound fundamentals lift Tulsa over Wichita. OILERS 3, THUNDER 1

The Oilers' T.J. Caig tries to work around a Thunder defender during Saturday's home opener at the BOK Center. BRAD BRUGGER/For the Tulsa World

By JOHN RITTENOURE World Correspondent
Published: 10/25/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 10/25/2009 5:46 AM

Following a wild night of fights and penalties in the Oilers' loss at Wichita on Friday, everyone expected a night of paybacks on Saturday.

But instead, the Tulsa Oilers just played solidly and handed the Thunder a 3-1 Central Hockey league defeat before an opening night crowd of 9,040 at the BOK Center.

The Oilers improved to 2-1 on the season after a game that produced only 24 penalty minutes. Wichita fell to 1-3.

Oilers coach Bruce Ramsay was much happier with the play of his team than the night before.

"I thought we played extremely well," Ramsay said. "We limited their opportunities and created a lot of opportunities on our own end. We limited their (Wichita) scoring chances. Our goaltending was solid.

"It was just a good, sound fundamental hockey game."

Ramsay was happy the two teams did not resume last night's action.

"We had four fights last night, so I guess they spilled their blood last night," said Ramsay. "We just had some bad breaks last night. They (Wichita) only had 22 shots and scored five goals. It was just unfortunate. Sometimes that is the way it works.

"We can enjoy this win a little bit, then we have to get ready for Rapid City."

The Oilers almost picked up a shutout, but Glenn Detulleo scored at 13:19 of the final period to save face for the Thunder.

Rob Hisey scored his fourth goal of the season to put the Oilers up 3-0 on a backhander in front of the net at 6:24 in the third period.

Dallas

Steward picked up his second goal in three games when he took a centering feed from Brett Pilkington at 18:52 of the second period to put the Oilers up 2-0.

Derek Eastman put Tulsa on the board at 15:24 of the first period, but it took two attempts before it counted.

Eastman first fired from near the blue line at 13:44, but the goal was waved off as Michel Beausoleil was called for goalie interference.

But Eastman was not to be denied as he poked in the puck almost two minutes later on a pass from T.J. Caig.

Tulsa returns to the BOK Center on Tuesday night to play Rapid City. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

TULSA 3, WICHITA 1

Wichita 0 0 1 — 1
Tulsa 1 1 1 — 3

FIRST PERIOD: 1, Tulsa, Eastman (Caig, Hisey) 1, 15:24. Penalties: Wichita, Detulleo (Hooking), 2:11. Tulsa, Standish (Holding), 5:46. Wichita, Forslund (Cross checking), 8:59. Wichita, Ofukany (Tripping), 12:30. Tulsa, Beausoleil (Interference), 13:44. Wichita, Detulleo (Tripping), 14:16.

SECOND PERIOD: 2, Tulsa, Steward (Pilkington, Standish) 2, 18:52. Penalties: Tulsa, Davis (Tripping), :32. Tulsa, Linder (Hooking), 4:15. Tulsa, Caig (Hooking), 14:04. Wichita, McAllister (Elbowing), 14:16.

THIRD PERIOD: 3, Tulsa, Hisey (Beausoleil, Caig) 4, 6:24. 4, Wichita, Detulleo (McAllister, Duda) 2, 13:19. Penalties: Tulsa, Hisey (Hooking), 15:58. Wichita, Woll (High sticking), 18:42.

Shots: Wichita 4-9-9—22. Tulsa 10-12-7—29

Saves: Tulsa, Armstrong 4-9-8—21. Wichita, Campbell 9-11-6—26

Referee: Paul Mariconda. Att.: 9,040. By JOHN RITTENOURE World Correspondent

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	Report Comment Daven, Tulsa (10/25/2009 6:46:30 AM) Go Oilers!!
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/26/2009 1:14:04 AM) Yes Badgerjohn that was a great rivalery for many a great year.
	Report Comment billybob74135, Broken Arrow (10/26/2009 11:55:45 PM) The Blazers will end up in the AHL eventually.
	Report Comment shaw411, Scottsdale, AZ (10/25/2009 10:41:28 AM) Nice turnout for the home opener. Way to go Oilers!
	Report Comment shaw411, Scottsdale, AZ (10/26/2009 9:50:24 AM) The Oilers and Blazers will meet again when Tulsa moves up to join them soon.
	Report Comment Badgerjohn, Tulsa (10/26/2009 1:03:22 AM) It's just not the same without the Blazers to hate.
	Report Comment Norm, (10/26/2009 2:01:39 PM) Moves UP Shaw? The Blazers are defunct. Shut down. No mas. They didn't move up - they disbanded.
	Report Comment BigOkie, (10/25/2009 3:29:00 PM) This doesn't even resemble the same Oiler team we saw for most of last year. I'm hoping Rammer keeps these guys motivated. They sure looked like they were having fun last night, which goes a long way to winning games. I know I had a good time and the crowd seemed to as well.
	Report Comment BigOkie, (11/2/2009 1:44:42 PM) Not this season they won't, or even next season.

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