Wheels up for latest leg of Oil Kings’ WHL junket
Team riding momentum into Medicine Hat after ‘bounce-back’ efforts last week
It is taking a long time for the Edmonton Oil Kings to play six consecutive road games.
Due to a quirk in the WHL schedule, the Oil Kings have been able to return home after portions of a sixgame road trip, which continues Wednesday against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
The Oil Kings are going to Medicine Hat off a pair of strong efforts against the Kootenay Ice and Lethbridge Hurricanes last week.
Edmonton defeated Kootenay 5-2 on Jan. 31 and lost 3-2 in Lethbridge on Saturday after taking a 2-0 lead into the final five minutes of the game.
“I thought both games we played very well. It was a really good bounce-back performance from our trip out east and I was pleased,” Oil Kings head coach Steve Hamilton said. “For 55 minutes in that Lethbridge game we were very disciplined in terms of our system and our play. I thought it was a terrible non-call on our first goal against. It was complete goaltender interference, which was out of our control.
“What I thought we needed to do a better job of is the resiliency, to regrouping in short order to not let that escalate. The second goal was an end-zone redirect, those things happen, and then less than a minute to go in the game they get another power play.”
Brett Kemp and Trey Fix-Wolansky scored in Lethbridge to give the Oil Kings the lead, which they held through the first 15 minutes of the third period.
Hurricanes forward Jordy Bellerive scored the first of his three goals on the night with teammate Taylor Ross holding Oil Kings goaltender Todd Scott down in the crease.
Bellerive scored two minutes later on a tip in front and then netted the winner on the power play with a minute left.
“Those are the kinds of things we had to battle through, but we couldn’t fault the guys; their effort, their approach, all of those things were positive,” Hamilton said. “There is a sense of frustration that that game slipped away, but there were so many things to build off of. Part of our goal going into that two-game trip was to really have two business-like approaches into our game and our plan.”
The Oil Kings have been much more competitive against their Central Division opponents this year, which was again the case in the third and fourth games of the road trip. They hope the trend continues in Medicine Hat and then again Friday against the Red Deer Rebels in the first game of a homeand-away series. The Oil King host the Rebels on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) at Rogers Place.
“I think both of those games that we played, we played really well,” Fix-Wolansky said. “It was nice to go out there and play like we know how to play and come out with a win in Kootenay and then play well against Lethbridge. It was a letdown not to win, but I thought we did play a very good game.”
With 21 games left in the season, the playoffs are likely out of reach for the Oil Kings, who sit 14 points back of the Ice for the final spot in the division.
Yet the club continues to take steps forward as its rebuild continues to mature.
“For us, it’s another step forward and that is going to be continuous with 21 games left in the year,” Hamilton said. “Every game is important as a measuring stick for us as a team and individually. Let’s be honest, there is going to be substantial change on this roster next year and with that being said these are really, really important games for guys to grow themselves within the organization and showcase their abilities and, most importantly, we want some team success as a result of that improved individual play.”
Medicine Hat is currently the top team in the Central Division, three points up on the Hurricanes.
The Oil Kings lost 5-4 in overtime at Rogers Place in their last meeting against the Tigers.
“We’ve played them really well; in two of our last three games against them, we’ve taken them to overtime,” Fix-Wolansky said. “We just have to stick to that same game plan that helped us there, doing what we did to be able to take them to overtime. That’s going to be key in winning that game.”