BIG SECOND PERIOD LEADS OILERS PAST AMERICANS

BIG SECOND PERIOD LEADS OILERS PAST AMERICANS

Tulsa scored three times in the middle frame and fends offAllen’s comeback effort in the third period to win 4-3 at the BOK Center.

TULSA, OK – A second period three-goal surge from the Tulsa Oilers(24-14-6) was enough to push the home squad past the visiting Allen Americans(14-28-4) 4-3 Saturday at the BOK Center.

Oilers rookie JaredThomas buried a loose puck out of a goal-mouth scramble 32 seconds into thegame to give Tulsa a 1-0 lead. Allen had four first period power plays, but theOilers killed off all four penalties. Goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick stopped all nine shots he faced, while Americansgoalie C.J. Motte turned away seven of eight.

Tulsa added to its lead early in the second periodwhen a puck bounced off of CharlieSampair’s skate and ricocheted past Motte. Scott Henegar fired a shot past the sliding Motte to make it 3-0 onan Oilers 2-on-1 rush, before Americans forward Alexandre Ranger put Allen onthe board with a deflection in front of Fitzpatrick. Late in the frame, Ryan Tesink cleaned up a rebound forhis second point of the night to put the Oilers ahead 4-1 after 40 minutes.

Allen rookie Braylon Shmyr fooled Fitzpatrick with ashot from high in the slot to halve the Oilers lead 6:23 into the third period.The Americans cut their deficit to one with 8:58 remaining in regulation whenZach Pochiro scored his league-leading 24th goal to make it 4-3.Tulsa held on from there to split the weekend series heading into tomorrow’sfinale.

The Oilers and Americans finish off the weekend serieswith a rubber match Sunday at 4:05pm on the York Plumbing Ice at the BOK Center.A post game skate for the fans with the Oilers players will follow the game.

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