The Tri-City American’s (17-10-3-0) entered Rogers Place on Friday night to play the struggling Edmonton Oil Kings (7-22-3-0). Tri-City’s Jusso Vålimåki was not in the line-up for the World Juniors tournament. Patrick Dea made his return to Edmonton. The long-time Oil King goal keeper was picked up off waivers earlier this season. He suited up in 123 games with the Oil Kings. Edmonton started Travis Child.
Edmonton possessed the puck well in the first frame, despite only generating shots they kept the puck in the offensive zone for a part of the first period. Unfortunately for Edmonton it only took 29 seconds for Nolan Yaremko to open the scoring for Tri-City. A broken play led to him being alone on a breakaway where he put it five hole on Child. They scored once again at the end of the period. Dylan Coghlan received a pass, walked in and put it over the shoulder of Child. Final shots after one were in favor of Tri-City 17-2.
Boston Bilous came in relief of Travis Child to start the second period. Child was not seen on the bench for the rest of the game.
The second period started much like the first, with Nolan Yaremko posting his second goal of the game. The scoring continued for Tri-City as draft eligible forward Carson Focht scored around the mid-way point of the period on the power play. Final shots after the second were 26-13 for the Americans who led 4-0.
Edmonton started to play physical in the third period, pressuring defenders and showing some frustration. They weren’t able to generate a whole lot of chance and Tri-City ended up scoring once again late. Jordan Topping walked in and put the puck over the glove of Boston Bilous. Tri-City seemed like too much to handle, possessing the puck in the offensive zone for most of the period and slowing down the pace of play whenever they wanted.
Game Notes:
-I was really impressed with defenseman Roman Kalinichenko, a draft eligible out of Russian who plays an old school two-way game. He’s an intimidating presence on the ice, plays physical and can really close in on guys quickly. I loved his tight gap control in the defensive zone and how he was able to distribute the puck out of his offensive zone. Roman is a gifted skater who has all the tools to hear his name called in June.
-The Edmonton Oil Kings may really be struggling this season, but there has been upside. 16-year-old Liam Keeler has shown at times that he’s starting to feel comfortable with the league. He clearly has the green light to shoot. Matthew Robertson has emerged as arguably their most important defenseman. He’s been consistent and heavily utilized. He’s a key piece of their future as he is only 16 years old. Carter Souch came up from midget and earned a spot on the team for a remainder of the season, thinks the game very well and is able to keep up with the WHL pace of play. David Kope came up this season and at times has been one of their top forwards. David is a late 2000 who has a strong rangy frame at 6-foot-5, skilled and able to create offense. Boston Bilous has really struggled at times but has been showing small improvements as of late. His hands have gotten quicker and he may get the opportunity to get more starts with Travis Child potentially injured.
