Oil Kings take measure of growth with successful B.C. road swing
The Edmonton Oil Kings are likely going to miss the Western Hockey League playoffs this season, but a recent four-game road trip through the B.C. Division displayed how much their young roster has grown.
Heading into four extremely hostile buildings last week, the Oil Kings managed to win three of four games before returning home and earning a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Monday.
“We’re playing harder and we’re embracing a little bit of an edgier game,” said Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton. “We’re finding ways to grind other teams down a little bit, and we’re not big physically, so we have to do it with kind of a relentlessness and pace of play.”
Earlier this season, the Oil Kings made a similar journey through British Columbia with disastrous results. They lost all five games on a November trip to face the Victoria Royals, the Vancouver Giants, the Kelowna Rockets and backto-back encounters against the Prince George Cougars.
Last week, they defeated the Kamloops Blazers, the Royals and the Rockets, while dropping a tight 2-1 decision to the Giants.
“We did a good job on the coast,” Hamilton said. “Particularly, we go to Kelowna — a place where we haven’t won in four or five years — with 10 forwards and four and-ahalf healthy D and the guys find a way to really gut one out. I thought it was a very fitting end to the road trip, and we kind of took a little bit of that with us (Monday).”
Edmonton hit the road after pulling out a 4-3 win against the Red Deer Rebels on Feb. 10 at Rogers Place.
The Oil Kings defeated Kamloops 4-1 two days later, getting an outstanding 29-save performance from goaltender Josh Dechaine and two goals from captain Colton Kehler.
Edmonton then defeated Victoria 7-6 in a shootout with Tomas Soustal leading with way, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Soustal also went on to score the shootout winner.
The victory gave Edmonton their first three-game win streak of the season.
“That’s a good division out there, and we went in there as underdogs,” said Oil Kings forward Kobe Mohr. “We just tried to control what we could control. We didn’t focus too much on the opposition. We just did what we knew we needed to do to be at our best.”
On Friday in Vancouver, the Oil Kings put up another good fight against Edmonton Oilers’ prospect Tyler Benson and the Giants but were unable to overcome an early first-period deficit.
Benson scored 14 seconds into the game, then set up a power-play goal less than three minutes later. Brent Kemp scored early in the second to cut into the lead, but despite outshooting the Giants 14-2 in the third period, the Oil Kings could not find the tying goal.
“The first time we went out there, it was a learning experience for everyone, you could say,” Mohr said.
“But this time, it was all business going out there. We knew there were eight points on the line, and we came out with six, and we’ll all take that.”
The Oil Kings closed out the trip Saturday with a 3-2 shootout win
We’re playing harder and we’re embracing a little bit of an edgier game. We’re finding ways to grind other teams down a little bit.
against the Rockets. Goaltender Todd Scott made 29 saves in the win, while Try Fix-Wolansky scored the lone goal in the shootout.
Following the win, the Oil Kings boarded the bus and drove through the night, getting home on Sunday afternoon. They were back on the ice Monday afternoon hosting the Blades, where they battled back from a two-goal, third-period deficit before losing in overtime.
The Oil Kings have three days off before travelling to face the Calgary Hitmen on Friday, then retuning home to host the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday (7 p.m.) at Rogers Place.
Edmonton have 13 games left in the season and are currently 11 points back of the Red Deer Rebels for the final playoff spot in the Central Division. They are 21 points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
“Our main goal now is to just focus on the things we have to do and try to play hard,” Mohr said. “We’re not going to worry too much on who are opponents are. We just want to keep focus on doing the right things.”