Codie McLachlan

Dylan Guenther scores hat trick in win over Thunderbirds

A pair of rookie stole the show at Rogers Place in what was a historic night for the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Seattle Thunderbirds were in town for their first visit to Rogers Place in two years. Sebastian Cossa got the start for the Oil Kings who gave Todd Scott the night off following 42 save performance against Medicine Hat on Friday night. Cossa has been superb for Edmonton minus the one hiccup in Regina.

The Oil Kings almost put themselves in a hole early after Vladimir Alistrov took a seat in the box 59 seconds into the game. However, the Thunderbirds were unable to take advantage.

Blake Lyda (Photo -Brian Liesse)

The first significant opportunity of the game fell to Jake Neighbours. David Kope fed a great pass across the crease to Neighbours who narrowly missed the net. Then, at the other end of the ice, Cossa made an excellent reactionary stop on Lucas Ciona who tipped a point shot onto goal. The Oil Kings came even closer when Ethan Cap’s shot beat Blake Lyda but couldn’t beat the post.

The opening goal finally came on the powerplay at the 12-minute mark. Carter Souch teed up Josh Williams for a one-timer in the slot who made no mistake scoring his sixth goal of the year to make it 1-0 Edmonton.

Now in the second period, the Thunderbirds attempt to clear the puck hit the official and feel to Dylan Guenther. The rookie then had a clear path to goal and slotted the puck five-hole on Lyda to make it 2-0 in favour of the home team.

The history books were rewritten at the 12-minute point when Conner McDonald beat Lyda high glove with his second of the year. That goal tied McDonald with Aaron Irving for the most goals by a defenceman in the regular season in franchise history.

“I am just happy to contribute, honestly,” said the Oil Kings defenceman on tying the record. “Anytime you can break or match you have to give back to your teammates. They’ve been everything to me, and they help me strive to be better every day, so it’s a group effort.”

Late in the second period, the Popeyes minute put a curse on the Oil Kings as the Thunderbirds scored not once but twice to drag themselves back into the contest. Henrik Rybinski put a rebound through the five-hole of Cossa; then Matthew Wedman used Aiden Lawson as a screen to beat the Oil Kings rookie goaltender for the second time in just over a minute.

There was a slight scare as the buzzer sounded to end the eventful second period. Wedman came flying down the ice on a breakaway and couldn’t put the brakes on the quick enough before barrelling into Cossa. The Oil Kings rookie was slow to get up but did return to start the third period.

Riley Sawchuk (photo-Andy Devlin)

The win was ultimately sealed before the midway point of the third. Guenther beat Lyda short side from the faceoff dot for his second of the game. Shortly after, Kope found Riley Sawchuk in the slot who scored an almost identical goal to what Williams did in the first to make it 5-2 in favour of the Oil Kings.

History was then made, once again, with 1:02 to play when Guenther shot the puck into an empty net for his first career WHL hat trick.

“It’s a nice way to end things before I leave (for the World U17 Hockey Challenge) so I am super happy,” commented Guenther on his hat trick. “I feel as though I’ve improved as the years gone on, and now I am starting to get comfortable out there.”

Cossa made 28 saves on the night to pick up his third win in a row. The Fort McMurray native now moves to 4-0-0 on the season with a 1.58 GAA, and a 0.948 save percentage. He’s currently third in the WHL in save percentage and fifth in goals-against average.

“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now which is great,” said Head Coach Brad Lauer on his young netminder. “We had plans for him to last year to be with us, and he ended up getting hurt. I think that him playing another year and playing some minutes and playing in different situations benefited him.”

Since losing to the Lethbridge Hurricanes on home ice, the Oil Kings have now taken points in 10 games in a row and are now also on a five-game win streak.

“I think the team just bought in,” said Conner McDonald on the Oil Kings’ recent run of form. “We’ve continued to get closer as the year progresses, especially on the road. I mean it’s grueling, but at the same time, I think that was good for us.”

Next up, the Oil Kings host the Saskatoon Blades at Rogers Place on Friday night.

Oil Spill…

Three Oil Kings took home the three stars of the game with Dylan Guenther being the first start following his first career hat trick. Conner McDonald was named the second star of the game after his record-tying goal. Finally, Liam Keeler is your third star of the game after a point night.

Edmonton was able to capitalize on one of their six powerplays on the night when Josh Williams opened the scoring. They also went a perfect four for four on the penalty kill.