Oil Kings-Rebels go back to back Friday
RED DEER – The stars came out at night for the Edmonton Oil Kings on a full-moon Friday.
T.J. Foster and Michael St. Croix each had a goal and assist in a three-goal first period, while Henrik Samuelsson scored in the second as the Oil Kings avenged a 5-3 Western Hockey League loss a night earlier at Rexall Place with a 6-1 verdict over the Red Deer Rebels at the Enmax Centrium.
Dylan Wruck also added two helpers in the first two periods as the Oil Kings’ top four scorers racked up seven points.
Stephane Legault, the other member of the Foster-St. Croix line who went into the game with just three goals, got the Oil Kings’ first and last scores. The winger, who broke his foot blocking a shot early in the season, has 19 points in 22 games. Klarc Wilson finished it up with three minutes to go.
On Thursday night, the Rebels raced to a 3-0 lead after 5-1/2 minutes, outshooting the Oil Kings 11-1. On Friday, it was the exact opposite, with Edmonton getting three goals in the first 14-1/2 minutes.
“We did to them what they did to us in our barn,” said Foster, rehashing the quick starts for both teams. “It is nice to try for retribution right off the bat. But Red Deer battled hard. They didn’t give up.”
Foster, who was stopped on a penalty shot with 62 seconds left after being hauled down while killing a slashing penalty to Samuelsson, got his 18th goal, St. Croix scored his league-leading 14th power-play goal and 21st overall, and Samuelsson had his 19th.
The Eastern Conferenceleading Oil Kings, who were continually thwarted by goalie Bolton Pouliot during a 53-save performance Thursday, pounced on the Rebels’ overworked backup Friday. Pouliot was helpless on most of the Oil Kings’ goals but did rob Foster as the clock ticked down.
“I was telling the guys I’m one-for-three lifetime on penalty shots ... what can I say, I couldn’t put this one past him,” said Foster.
The Oil Kings didn’t do much wrong in the rematch, though. They dug in after being very late to the party Thursday.
“We were sleeping after the Christmas break,” shrugged Oil Kings coach Derek Laxdal. “We were challenged by that game, needed to respond and we did step up. We made sure to tell the players before the game that if we won this one, the back-to-back was a wash.”
Legault pounced on a loose puck 122 seconds in, then Foster ripped one off the crossbar and in, and St. Croix buried a power-play 25-footer in the opening period as the Oil Kings moved to 53 points, six more than the Rebels. Samuelsson finished off a two-on-one with Wruck in the second period as the Oil Kings outshot Red Deer 18-6 in the frame.
St. Croix has 48 points, Wruck 46, Foster (one of the club’s two 20-year-olds, along with Wruck) 43, and Samuelsson 41. St Croix is eighth in WHL scoring, Wruck 11th (his jersey number), Foster 16th (his sweater number) and Samuelsson 20th. The other three get more ink than Foster, who has the most even-strength goals (11) on the team.
“He should be a point-agame guy with the ice-time he gets ... and for T.J., he has to get his points in the tough games. That’s what he’s been working on this year,” said Laxdal.
Legault punctuated the rout by racing in short-handed in the third before roofing one for his first of the year while killing a penalty.
The first goal was off a roomservice rebound of a Ben Carroll shot.
“Just pushed off their D-man and the puck landed right there ... one of the easier ones of my career,” said Legault, who had to work harder to make it 5-1 in the third. “Yeah, Schwartzie (Oil Kings goalie coach Dustin Schwartz) told me earlier in the game to pressure (Matt) Dumba at the point, and I managed to poke the puck from him.”
Legault knew the Oil Kings had to lay down the law in the rematch Saturday.
“When you’ve been on a winning streak, with all the work you put into that, you don’t want to start one the other way ... you know two steps forward, one step back,” he said.
Laurent Brossoit, still looking for his first shutout of the season and stunningly good for most of the night, was beaten only by Joel Hamilton nine seconds into the third with the Oil Kings on a power play. It was the fifth short-handed goal Edmonton has allowed this season.
“Kind of frustrating to have a power play to start the period and we give up the shortie,” said Legault.
ON THE BENCH: Carroll picked up his first two WHL points, both assists. Carroll, who was playing for the Sherwood Park Crusaders in the AJHL, is up for the Christmas break with four defencemen out of the lineup ... Curtis Lazar had a rare fight in the third, landing several strong lefts against Devan Fafard. It’s his third WHL fight ... Oil Kings assistant coach Sean Brown was on bench, with associate coach Steve Hamilton helping Team Pacific at the world U-17 tournament in Quebec.