TULSA, Okla. – Drew Fisher and Dave Pszenyczny scored goals ten seconds apart in the third period on Friday night to lift the Tulsa Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Quad City Mallards in front of 4,641 at the BOK Center. The Oilers concluded their four-game home stand with a 2-1-1 record and moved back into a tie for first place in the Central Division.
The Oilers killed off three consecutive penalties in the first half of the opening period and Kyle O’Kane opened the scoring for the home side at the 13:22 mark. Sharp passes from T.J. Caig and Eric Tallent set up O’Kane in front of the Quad City net and the third-year winger zipped a shot past Mallards’ goalie Parker Milner for his fifth goal of the season. O’Kane has scored a goal in four straight contests, the longest goal streak of any Oilers player this season. Only 15 seconds after the Oilers strike, a Quad City rush led to a pile of bodies and sticks in front of Tulsa goalie Kevin Carr. In an effort to keep the loose puck from crossing the goal line, one of the Oilers closed his hand on the puck and the Mallards were awarded a penalty shot. Finnish forward Antti Pusa mis-handled the puck as he moved in on Carr and floated a backhand wide to keep the Oilers in front.
The Mallards demonstrated some quick-strike ability of their own early in the second period. Pusa swatted a rebound past Carr at 1:42 and just 53 seconds later, a wrist shot from Joe Perry bounced off the ice and over Carr’s pad to give Quad City a sudden 2-1 lead.
Tulsa, 1-4-1 when trailing after two periods, mounted its second comeback of the season thanks to the burst of offense from Fisher and Pszenyczny. Oilers’ forward Matt Larke held in a bouncing puck at the Quad City blue and fed Fisher who whipped a shot through Milner at 4:59 of the third period. Fisher’s fifth goal of the season leveled the game at 2-2 and the fans at the BOK Center were still celebrating as Pszenyczny put the Oilers in front for good. The face off following Fisher’s goal was won by Jeff Jubinville and played from Scott Macaulay to Pszenyczny who maneuvered up the left wing into Mallards territory. The veteran defenseman snapped a shot that fooled Milner and fluttered into the upper corner at 5:09. Carr made 13 of his 36 saves in the third period to preserve the win for the Oilers.
Each side finished 0-for-4 on the power play and the Oilers were outshot for the eleventh straight game. Tulsa improved to 9-5-3 overall while Quad City suffered just its second road regulation loss of the season and dipped to 7-5-4 overall.
The Oilers will take Saturday off before traveling to Wichita on Sunday for a 5:05 p.m. start against the Thunder.
With Tulsa Oilers team release
Contact the photographer: les.stockton@prohockeynews.com
