Regina powers past Oil Kings
Hamilton vows personnel changes after Pats score three special teams goals
As it turns out, Sam Steel was the least of the Edmonton Oil Kings’ worries.
The Regina Pats star and reigning CHL player of the year missed his second consecutive game Sunday, out day to day with an upperbody injury.
Even without Steel, the Pats were too much for the Oil Kings, who fell 5-3 at Rogers Place.
Regina scored three power-play goals in the second period, which proved Edmonton’s undoing in a contest where they outshot the visitors 40-30.
“Our penalty kill has been a major struggle. We’re going to have to look very critically at not only the structure, but the personnel,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton. “That is a grit job. Killing penalties, above everything else, is getting clears, winning small-area battles, executing in tough space and we as a whole haven’t don’t that consistently enough.
“You look at the game, I thought we did a lot of positive things. I thought we played pretty well, we put 40 shots on the board, but when you give away three on the power play, you’re always going to be chasing the game.”
Bryan Lockner, Matt Bradley, Dawson Davidson, Braydon Buziak and Wyatt Sloboshan scored for the Pats, while goaltender Max Paddock made 27 saves.
Nick Bowman, Tomas Soustal and David Kope, with his first WHL goal, countered for the Oil Kings.
Goaltender Travis Child started the game for the Oil Kings, left temporarily with an injury in the second period, tried to come back and was forced to sit for the third.
Child stopped 16 of 20 shots. Boston Bilous gave up a goal on 10 shots in relief.
“We fell into a little bit of a lull in that second period and that ended up costing us the game,” Bowman said. “In the first period, I thought we came out, played well, fired pucks on net and put ourselves in good position. We just have to stay disciplined and if we do end up taking those penalties, then we have to be dialed in on our PK and that killed us a little (Sunday). But we’re going to work on it, improve it and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Lockner opened the scoring at 7:26 of the first period, burying a rebound past Child.
Bowman got the goal back, scoring on a scramble in front with a minute remaining in the period.
While the Oil Kings were still celebrating the goal on the bench, the Pats restored their lead five seconds later as Bradley got behind the Oil Kings defence off the ensuing faceoff and snapped a shot past Child.
Soustal then went on to tie the game 2-2 with less than a second left in the period, digging out a rebound in front and lifting it past Paddock.
In the second, the Oil Kings got into penalty trouble and paid for it.
Davidson scored halfway through the period with Trey FixWolansky in the box on an interference call.
Buziak scored 41/2 minutes later with Connor McDonald in the box for cross-checking. And then Sloboshan scored with 2:18 left and Will Warm off for a slashing penalty.
“Penalties take the flow of the game out and you lose any sort of momentum because you’re not getting a kill,” Hamilton said. “Then it just sort of snowballs and it’s counter-productive and that’s a tough way to play.”
In the third, the Oil Kings tried to battle back and took the play to Regina, outshooting them 13-8.
Kope scored at 6:28 of the third period to cut Regina’s lead to 5-3 and was promptly handed the puck to commemorate the occasion. The 17-year-old was an eighth-round pick of the Oil Kings in the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft and a long shot to make the club this season.
“It’s good to get it off my back and it’s exciting, but it’s too bad I had to get it in a loss,” Kope said. “I’m starting to get used to the league and getting used to the pace. It’s fun and I just have to keep working hard and do my best.”
With the loss, the Oil Kings drop to 5-8-2 on the season. They’ll host the Seattle Thunderbirds Thursday in the fifth of a six-game homestand.
“Overall the team wasn’t going (Sunday),” Kope said. “We just have to try and bounce back against Seattle and try to get a win.”