TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa Oilers, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls and powered by Community Care, opened the Mountain Division Semi-Final against the Kansas City Mavericks with a 4-2 win at Cable Dahmer Arena on Friday night to take a 1-0 series lead.
Neither team scored in the opening frame, with Jack LaFontaine stopping a penalty shot and Vyacheslav Buteyets halting all 11 chances.
Nathan Knoepke opened the scoring 1:16 into the second frame, blasting a bouncing puck through a screen to beat Buteyets and put the Mavericks up 1-0. Damien Giroux extended the Mavericks lead via an Oilers’ deflection 5:08 into the frame to close the scoring of the period.
Drew Elliott scored his first pro goal 15 seconds into the final frame via a power-play deflection on a Jeremie Biakabutuka slap shot. Reid Petryk followed up 8:49 into the period, hammering a scrambled rebound past LaFontaine to level the game 2-2. Alec Butcher scored the eventual game-winning goal, placing a pass from Andrew Lucas into the upper-right hand corner of the net 31 seconds later to put the Oilers up 3-2. Elliott closed the scoring in the final 15 seconds with an empty-net goal to seal the contest 4-2.
The 4-2 victory places the Oilers up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series. The series continues tomorrow, April 19 at 6:05 p.m. for Game 2 at Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri.
Oilers Season and Group Tickets are on sale now! Call the Oilers front office at 918-632-PUCK (7825) or visit www.tulsaoilers.com for more information.
