Oil Kings pull out 2-0 win over Tigers.
Records third shutout of playoffs as Oil Kings take 2-0 series lead
It might have been the longest 20 minutes of the Edmonton Oil Kings’ season. And Laurent Brossoit saw it all in slow motion.
The Oil Kings goaltender was feverishly busy in net on Sunday at Rexall Place, facing a barrage of shots from the Medicine Hat Tigers, while his teammates went ice cold on the offensive end in a 2-0 Edmonton victory in Game 2 the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference best-ofseven semifinal series.
The Calgary Flames’ prospect stopped 33 shots for his third shutout of the playoffs. With the Oil Kings up 2-0, the series shifts to Medicine Hat for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Oil Kings played more than 15 minutes in the second period without getting a shot on Tigers goalie Cam Lanigan. Brossoit, meanwhile, made 18 saves in the second and somehow the Oil Kings survived their horrific middle frame to pull out a win.
“I thought that L.B. was outstanding,” Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal said of Brossoit, who recorded the fifth shutout of his postseason career.
“He was unbelievable. To win in the playoffs you have to have great goaltending and I thought Lanigan made some great saves for them, but L.B. was outstanding and he’s probably been the difference so far in these two games.”
Brossoit said he didn’t mind the extra work.
“When you’re feeling good, the pucks seem to slow down and it doesn’t seem like you’re getting a lot of shots,” he said. “I was feeling good.”
Henrik Samuelsson and Cody Corbett both scored on the power play for the Oil Kings, notching the team’s first goals in the series with the man advantage. Edmonton’s penalty kill was given another thorough workout in the second.
The Oil Kings were whistled for five straight penalties in the second period and gave up seven power plays on the night. To their credit, they killed off all seven and are yet to allow a special-teams goal in the 2013 playoffs.
“That second period was unacceptable,” Laxdal said. “When you’re penalty killing and you’re only using four defencemen and six forwards, you shorten your bench pretty quick, so everyone else doesn’t get a chance to get in the game.”
The Oil Kings quickly put that bad second period behind them. Corbett struck 1:56 into the third period, Edmonton cleaned up its game and held the Tigers at bay.
“When you don’t take penalties in the third, you get a chance to run through your lines, so you get that energy back in your group,” Laxdal said. “We didn’t generate a shot until the first (15) minutes of the second period. It was unacceptable and we had a little chat with the guys and they responded, so it was a good sign.”
Samuelsson and Corbett looked as though they were going to double their offence in the third. With Medicine Hat defenceman Tyler Lewington in the penalty box late in the game for holding, Samuelsson hit a post and Corbett hit the crossbar.
For the second game in a row, Lanigan was solid in net for the Tigers, with 32 saves.
Corbett said he was looking forward to playing in Medicine Hat, where the Oil Kings should be in for an environment similar to what they saw in the WHL conference final last year against the Moose Jaw Warriors. A smaller rink that holds 4,006 fans but is immensely loud, the Medicine Hat Arena promises to give the Tigers a boost on Tuesday night.
“That’s a good barn,” Corbett said. “It’s real enclosed, so it’s going to be loud. It’s a smaller barn, so we’ve got to work on the transitions and keep it fast.
“I’m excited to play there. It’s going to be fun.”