TULSA, OK– Hockey fans got their first look at the 2010-11 Tulsa Oilers on Saturday night as they played the Wichita Thunder for the second time in two nights of preseason exhibition games. After dropping a 7-6 heartbreaker to the Thunder on Friday night, the Oilers looked to even the score with a big win at home.
With Thunder center Bobby Hughes in the penalty box for hooking, the Oilers opened the scoring on the power play at 1:41 of the first period when Mike Beausoleil slammed the puck past former Oilers goalie Marty Magers assisted by newcomer Matt Robertson and Sean Erickson. The subject of a contraversial mid season roster move last year, Beausoleil was re-cquired from Evansville for future considerations before the pre-season games began. The Thunder pulled even at 5:07 with a power play goal of their own when Ryan Driscoll slipped the disc under Trevor Cann assisted by Brad Bonnello and Daniel Tetrault.
A pair of even strength goals by Tulsa’s Gary Steffes and the Thunder’s Chris Greene closed out the opening frame with the teams knotted at 2 goals a piece.
In the second period, the Oilers erupted for five goals, most of them occurring in the third minute. Matt Robertson, who came to the Oilers by way of the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the former IHL netted an unassisted tally at 3:02, and Mike Beausoleil pushed one in with the help of Brandon Roshko at 3:11.
Beausoleil would complete the hat trick just 12 seconds later when he backhanded the puck in after it dribbled from beneath a sprawled Magers at 3:22. A pair of goals by Chad Costello at 4:40 assisted by Jack Combs and the second shorthanded at 12:25 assisted by Matt Larke closed out the Oilers stellar second period performance. The lone Wichita goal came from Shane Foster assisted by Andrew Martens and Brad Bonnello at 13:22.
Chris Cloud, who saw action with the now-defunct Amarillo Gorillas last season and who engaged in fisticuffs twice in tonight’s game netted the final goal of the game for the Oilers and the game at 16:12 of the third period assisted by Alec Kirschner and Tyler Harrison.
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Photos by: Kevin Pyle
All-in-all, the Oilers showed off a very fast offensive effort and a solid defensive front. In goal, Trevor Cann stopped 11-of-13 shots and his relief Sylvain Michaud missed only one of the 11 shots he faced. Across the rink, Marty Magers stopped 10 of 16 and Mark Sibbald 16 of 18. The Oilers finish the preseason with an even record and are set to begin regular season play next Friday night against the Thunder at 7:35pm in the BOK Center