When the game was over, Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray summed it up rather succinctly: “When it rains it pours.”
The Edmonton Oil Kings poured it on against the Wheat Kings on Saturday, October 4 as they won 5-0. Hudson Perry made 29 saves in his Wheat Kings debut.
“The first ten minutes, we were kind of flat but in the last ten minutes we came along and had a back-and-forth period,” Murray said. “In the second, you get down, they get that second and third one, and you could feel the air being let out of the balloon.”
The first seven shots of the game went the Oil Kings’ way, and on the last one, they broke through. Miroslav Holinka set up for a one-timer at the top of the left circle and let a shot go low and hard that found the back of the Wheat Kings’ net.
Early in the second, the Oil Kings stretched their lead. Lukas Sawchyn wrapped the puck around the net and fed it back door to Joe Iginla, who had the tap-in for the 2-0 lead.
Though the Wheat Kings survived a penalty shot by Max Curran unscathed, the Oil Kings got their 3-0 lead right after. Poul Anderson drove the middle and snapped a shot through traffic that gave Perry some trouble, trickling behind him and in.
After the Wheat Kings couldn’t convert on a 5-on-3, the Oil Kings made them pay. Adam Jecho broke in and just ripped a shot home from long range to stretch the lead to 4-0.
The Oil Kings made good on a 5-on-3 of their own. Just 15 seconds into it, Ethan McKenzie leaned into a one-timer from the top of the right circle and blasted it in.
“Our veteran guys need to lead the way,” Murray said. “We have enough veteran presence, guys who have had success in this league, they need to lead the way.”
The Wheat Kings get a chance to bury the loss almost immediately. They host the Saskatoon Blades tomorrow. Puck drop is 4:00.
