Oilers Drop Tough Opener, 3-2 In Shootout
The Tulsa Oilers thought they had won it.
Jeff Christian’s overtime shot that beat Oklahoma City goaltender Andy Franck was ruled no goal for inadvertent goaltender interference, and then the Blazers rallied for a 3-2 shootout win in the season opener for both teams.
Jason lawmaster gave the Oielrs a 1-0 lead on a two man advantage at 16:31 of the first period. That lead held up all the way until midway through the third period when brothers Ted and Bill Vandermeer scored goals eight seconds apart giving Oklahoma City a 2-1 lead.
The Oilers kept battling and Brendon Hodge’s power play blast fromt the left wing circle tied the game with 1:15 left. After Christians’ goal wa s nullified, he teams battled through a thrilling final two minutes and went to a shootout.
D.J. Jelitto, Simon Lambert, and Bill Vandermeer all managed to score in the shootout, while Hodge had the Oiler lone tally. In spite of taking the shootout loss, Kevin St. Pierre made 55 saves in goal for the Oilers.
The Oilers play Staurday night at Corpus Christi at 7:05 with a watch party scheduled at Santino’s Restaurant at 71st and Memorial behind Toys R Us.
