Andy Devlin

Todd Scott stands tall to hold off Tigers in Oil Kings victory

The Edmonton Oil Kings came into Rogers Place on a mission to continue the eight-game point streak that has led them to the top of the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Coming right behind them is the Medicine Hat Tigers, who have their eyes set on closing the gap on the Oil Kings and earning a huge two-points to improve on their already impressive 8-3-1 record.

Mads Sogaard and Todd Scott (Photo-Andy Devllin)

Both teams came hot out of the gates to start the game. With the Tigers producing a high volume of shots to open up the first period. However, the Oil Kings were able to dominate offensive zone possession as the period later progressed and lessened the gap in shots on goal, creating several high-quality scoring chances in the process.

The Oil Kings struck first to open up the game’s scoring when Josh Williams won a neutral zone battle that quickly turned into a 2-on-1 rush. Williams was able to wait out Tigers goaltender and Ottawa Senators prospect Mads Sogaard before sliding a pass over to Sawchuk, who had a wide-open right side of the net to wire the puck.

Riley Sawchuk (Photo-Andy Devlin)

The Edmonton Oil Kings continued to press on in the second period, with Josh Williams setting up a goal yet again, this time to Ethan McIndoe who scored within the opening minute of the frame to grow Edmonton’s lead to 2-0.

Brett Kemp responded for the Tigers to bring the game within one goal as the former Oil King tallied his third goal of the season against his old team.

However, just before the second period could end, Williams added his third assist of the night, passing through a seam of players crowding Sogaard’s crease to find Carter Souch, who made no mistake and regained the Oil Kings two-goal lead.

While the Oil Kings were able to hold off the Tigers for the majority of the third period, they did eventually claw their way back into the game in the final minutes of the game. Daniel Baker took full advantage of the extra time and space during a 4-vs-4 opportunity to load up from the blue line and pick out the top right corner to beat Todd Scott. The goal caused Oil Kings fans to get nervous for the last few minutes of play.

Carter Souch (Photo-Andy Devlin)

The Tigers pressed hard, adding to an already extensive shot total on the night. However, it took one chance from the Oil Kings to end Medicine Hat’s hopes of completing any comeback. Jake Neighbors exhibited a beautiful zone-entry before dropping the puck off to a streaking Sawchuk, who leaned into a shot for his second goal of the night and closed out the game at 4-2 for the Oil Kings. The win makes it a nine-game point streak for the red hot Oil Kings and allows the reign to continue at the top of the WHL’s standings.

“I think we’re coming close as a family, and we’re all buying into the systems that Brad [Lauer] is telling us, and that’s leading to success,” stated Sawchuk on the team’s current hot streak that has them placed as the top team in the WHL.

The biggest reason for Edmonton’s victory tonight was the team’s success on the penalty kill. Putting an end to any opportunity for the Tigers to add offense on all six of their power play attempts.

Unanimously the best penalty killer of the game for the Oil Kings was goaltender Todd Scott, who faced 44 shots throughout the game, stopping 42 of them en route to his fifth win of the season.

“This was like a four-point game for us tonight with [the Tigers] being second in our division,” said Scott on the importance of the teams win tonight, “This is something everybody was looking forward to, and everybody showed up tonight.”

Oil Spill…

The three stars tonight were 1) Josh Williams 2) Riley Sawchuk 3) Todd Scott. Oil Kings penalty kill went a perfect 6-0, while the Tigers went 1-4 on the penalty kill. Josh Williams converted a 3 point night against his former team. The shots were enormously high, finishing with a tally of 44-39 for the Tigers.

The Oil Kings step right back into action Saturday night against the Seattle Thunderbirds as they look to continue rolling as the hottest team in the WHL to start the season. The puck drops at 7:00 pm MDT at Rogers Place.