Oilers edge past Wichita in shootout
BY JOHN RITTENOURE World Correspondent
Sunday, February 03, 2013
2/03/13 at 6:23 AM
The Tulsa Oilers could not get the job done in regulation, but four straight shootout goals was enough to give Tulsa a 5-4 Central Hockey League shootout victory over the second-place Wichita Thunder on Saturday before a season-high crowd of 6,152 at the BOK Center.
Tulsa (15-27-3) was leading 4-3 with a minute left in regulation when Neil Trimm found an open net and scored for the Thunder (26-15-3) to tie the game at 4-4. After five minutes of scoreless overtime, the Oilers put in four straight shootout goals to one for the Thunder for the win.
Michel Beausoleil, Ryan Menei, Ben Gordon and Drew Fisher all connected in the shootout with Menei credited with the winning goal. It was his third goal of the night.
It was the third straight victory for the Oilers and their fourth straight at the BOK Center.
Tulsa was outshot 16-5 in the final period and 50-29 for the game but managed to beat the Thunder for only the third time in eight games.
The Oilers jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second period on powerplay goals by Menei and Fisher. Menei initially fired a shot that Thunder goalie Torrie Jung stopped but the rebound came back to Menei and he took a second shot. This time, it went in to put the Oilers up 2-1 at 5:30 into the period. It was Menei's 20th goal of the season and his fifth in the last three games.
Fisher scored his fourth goal in three games with a blast at 7:17 but the Thunder connected with the Tulsa net at 19:15 on a shot by Chad Painchaud to trim Tulsa's lead (3-2).
Tulsa scored first in the opening period when Ben Gordon scored a powerplay goal on a short breakaway at 4:17 for a 1-0 lead. The Thunder's Gregor Hanson evened the score at 1-1 at 13:52.
Game notes: Tulsa will complete a three-game homestand on Tuesday when they host the Rapid City Rush at 7:05 p.m.
OILERS 5, THUNDER 4 (SO)
| Wichita |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
- |
4 |
| Tulsa |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
- |
5 |
First Period: 1, Tulsa, Gordon, 23 (Buvinow, Erickson) 4:17 (pp). 2, Wichita, Hanson, 21 (Inman, Mohr) 13:52 (pp). Penalties: Wichita, Boogied (hooking) 3:04. Wichita, Robinson (slashing) 5:45. Tulsa, Beausoleil (hooking) 9:54. Tulsa, Fleck (interference) 11:55.
Second Period: 3, Tulsa, Menei, 20 (Erickson, Buvinow) 5:30 (pp). 4, Tulsa, Fisher, 13 (Buvinow, Menei) 7:17 (pp). 5, Wichita, Painchaud, 6 (Martens) 19:15. Penalties: Wichita, Flath (tripping) 1:11. Wichita, Flath (cross checking) 3:42. Wichita, Lowe (slashing) 5:48. Tulsa, Erickson (slashing) 9:44. Tulsa, Beausoleil (boarding) 11:50. Wichita, Boogaard (fighting) 14:36. Tulsa, Amesbury (fighting) 14:36.
Third Period: 6, Wichita, Inman, 17 (Robinson, Trimm) 8:58. 7, Tulsa, Menei, 21 (Fisher, Gordon) 9:19. 8, Wichita, Trimm, 21 (Lutz, Painchaud) 18:59. Penalties: Wichita, Robinson (illegal check to the head) 3:35. Tulsa, Amesbury (cross checking) 6:59. Tulsa, Beausoleil (tripping) 12:02.
Overtime: No scoring. Penalties: None.
Shootout: Tulsa, Menei.
Power Plays: Wichita, 2-6. Tulsa, 3-6.
Shots: Wichita, 12-19-16-3-0 - 50. Tulsa, 9-12-5-2-1 - 29.
Saves: Wichita, Jung 8-10-4-2 - 24. Tulsa, Madolora, 11-18-14-3 - 46.
Referee: Kevin Curtis A: 6,152.
