WHL: Oil Kings Drop Shootout Thriller To Hurricanes

The Edmonton Oil Kings entered their first matchup of the season against the Lethbridge Hurricanes coming off of a split series with the Red Deer Rebels, who were led by their new captain Kai Uchacz, the weekend prior. They weren’t close to a full roster yet and while they still have some injuries in their lineup, they got two major pieces back last night. Defenseman Vojtech Port returned from Anaheim Ducks training camp and forward Nathan Pilling returned from Calgary Flames camp. Both were huge additions to the lineup and were expected to help boost the team’s game at both ends of the ice.

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Defenseman Marc Lajoie was looking to follow up his strong start to the season and entered the game five points away from 100 career points in the Western Hockey League (WHL). Ty Nash, Gavin Hodnett, Carter Kowalyk and Treycen Wuttunee were all out due to injury, while Jacob Hoffrogge and Reid Larson sat out as healthy scratches. Kolby Hay had the pipes for his second start of the season.

Game Recap

The Oil Kings started out the game well, pressuring the Hurricanes in their own end and defending well when their opponent got rushes. They were rewarded and felt the impact of Pilling’s return as he opened the scoring to give the Oil Kings a 1-0 lead on an assist from Aidan Litke. Their lead was short-lived, as Landen Ward scored to tie the game 1-1 on a goal assisted by Logan McCutcheon and Noah Chadwick. The Rebels would take a 2-1 lead into the second period after Tyson Zimmer scored on a goal assisted by Tristen Doyle and Chase Pauls.

The second period was the same back-and-forth scoring action that was seen in the first, and it was started off with the game-tying goal from John Szabo assisted by captain Rhett Melnyk. While the Oil Kings ran into some penalty trouble in the second period, they weren’t going to go down so easy. Pilling notched his second goal of the game, yet again assisted by Litke, and it was a goal-of-the-year candidate. He danced through three defenders and roofed his second goal of the game.

The Rebels weren’t going to go down without a fight and tied the game 3-3 heading into the third period on a goal from Carter Dereniwsky assisted by Zimmer and Pauls. The third period was a complete change of pace, as both teams remained scoreless and the score stated at 3-3. The game ended up heading to overtime and while it was entertaining back-and-forth action, the game needed a shootout to decide a winner.

The Oil Kings let Litke shoot first in the shootout, and he missed. Following three straight shootout goals from the Rebels’ Zimmer, the Oil Kings’ Cole Miller, then the Rebels’ Wormald, it was up to first star of the night Pilling to keep the game going. Unfortunately, he couldn’t save the game and the Hurricanes took their third win of the season, dropping the Oil Kings record to 1-1-0-1.

What’s Next for the Oil Kings?

The Oil Kings will look for some revenge on the Hurricanes on Sunday, October 1st when they host them at home yet again. The Hurricanes will enter the game 3-0-0-0 and will look to keep their hot streak going. I wouldn’t expect many changes to the lineup unless move Hoffrogge back into it and take out Kian Bell. Hopefully, the Oil Kings can find a way to beat the Hurricanes and get back in the win column. While they got a point out of last night’s game, they are now on a two-game skid. They’ll be looking to snap it and begin a new winning streak on Sunday.