Special teams work overtime
Short-handed goals, power-play goals propel Oil Kings into first
CALGARY – Henrik Samuelsson was not invited to play for Team USA at the world junior championship in Russia during the Christmas break, but he’s hardly moping about it.
Samuelsson had two shorthanded goals in the second period — one on a breakaway after stealing the puck and the other off a sweet feed from Curtis Lazar — and helped set up a late power-play score by Lazar as the Edmonton Oil Kings rolled over the Calgary Hitmen 4-1 Tuesday night in a statement game to take top spot in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.
“Sammy has really stepped up his game,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal.
“He can score any way — short-handed, power play, five-on-five. He’s a big, strong power forward.”
The Oil Kings, who have 51 points to the Hitmen’s 50, had only mustered two points in the first four meetings with Calgary, falling in overtime and in a shootout and losing twice in regulation. But they’ve won the last two, both at the Scotiabank Saddledome, to finish the seasonal series with six out of a possible 12 points.
Edmonton’s power-play and penalty-killing units were really special — again. They lead the WHL in both categories, giving up just 13 powerplay goals while collecting six short-handed goals as a team, four by Samuelsson. They also have the best power play in the league with 42 goals, clicking at nearly 30 per cent.
Not only did Lazar score his seventh goal this month after going goalless in November, but Mitch Moroz got one on a tap-in with the man advantage, although they credited Cody Corbett with the goal. That will be changed Wednesday.
“He can score anyway. ” OIL KINGS COACH DEREK LAXDAL, ON HENRIK SAMUELSSON
After Greg Chase’s opening-period ripper sailed past Laurent Brossoit, the Oil Kings went to work in the second with two short-handed goals and one on the power play.
Samuelsson’s solo skate from his own blue-line, after knocking the puck free from Vimy Academy grad Jaynen Rissling, drove the knife into the heart of the Hitmen. It made it 3-1. He offered up a juke and a jive, then lifted it over the glove of goalie Chris Driedger.
“Jaynen’s usually pretty good defensively, but I jumped on the puck ... got lucky, I think,” said Samuelsson. “At the net, I went to a move I’ve used before, a move that’s worked. No sense trying something else.”
It’s the first time Samuelsson has scored two short-handed goals in a game and it’s the second straight game he’s notched three points.
“His mom’s been visiting,” Laxdal said. “I wish we could keep her around longer, but she’s heading back to Sweden after visiting her boy.”
Samuelsson’s mom will accompany her son back to Sweden to see his dad, Ulf, during Christmas. The exNHL blue-liner is coaching in MoDo, the team run by Markus Naslund and Peter Forsberg.
“Long flight ... 14 hours,” said Samuelsson, who was born in Scottsdale and played for the U.S. development team for a while before playing for his dad briefly last season.
He joined the Oil Kings halfway through last season, and got more ink for his suspensions rather than his scoring statistics. Not this season.
“Last year, there was a development stage for him, coming in when he did, through the playoffs, he was two different players,” said Laxdal. “I’m sure he’s got something to prove, too, with USA not having him at their camp.”
The Oil Kings were into proving a point as well.
“We definitely played like a team tonight ... we’re on the right track (five straight wins),” said Samuelsson.
“I’m proud of the guys. We had a pretty tough stretch, but we beat Calgary twice, Kamloops and a pretty good Victoria team,” said Laxdal, whose team was playing their third game in four days and shrugged off a sluggish first 20 minutes to outshoot Calgary 23-7 over the last 40.
The win here looked an awful lot like the way the Oil Kings played in 2011-12 when they won the WHL title. And they didn’t have defencemen Griffin Reinhart and David Musil on the bench — both are at the worlds. Martin Gernat, Travis Ewanyk (both injured) and Edgars Kulda, (at the worlds) are also out of the lineup.
It was a win the Oil Kings wanted badly — statistically and psychologically.
“We had the potential to get to first place in the conference going into the break ... we like playing Calgary, but we don’t like them. It’s a pretty heated battle,” said forward Michael St. Croix.
Brossoit, who played all six games against the Hitmen this season, didn’t get much work, but he was sharp.
“He was really calm and our young defence did a nice job boxing their players out,” said Laxdal. “That’s two big wins against them in this building. I know he wanted to show well for the Flames (the team that drafted him) and show well for Hockey Canada (after being cut from the junior team camp).”