Oilers take two from Mavericks

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News

The Kansas City Mavericks discovered the importance of playing 60 minutes worth of hockey following two disappointing losses to the Tulsa Oilers.
 
Halloween weekend provided no treats and too many Tulsa tricks as the Oilers claimed a 4-2 Friday night win over the Kansas City Mavericks and followed that with a 4-3 triumph Saturday night at Cable Dahmer Arena.

The two Oilers wins were mirror images of each other as Tulsa scored three unanswered first-period goals in each game.

"We have to find a way to get off to better starts in the first period," Mavericks coach Tad O'Had said after his team fell to 4-3, with all three losses coming at home.

"We came back strong in each game, and had many opportunities. We won the second and third periods in each loss, which shows the importance of playing 60 minutes of solid hockey.

"We're home next week, and everything we learned from these losses will be addressed."

Friday night, the Oilers' Tyrell Goulbourne kicked off the offense 1:48 into the first period, scoring a rebound point off a Tanner Faith shot.

Brodi Stuart extended Tulsa’s lead to 2-0 and Drew Elliott blasted a one timer past Ian Shane, as the Oilers took a 3-0 lead into the second period.

Jack Randl scored a goal in the second and third periods for the Mavericks, but Justin Michaelian's empty netter in the closing minute of the game proved to be too much for the Mavericks to overcome."

Saturday night Drew Elliott, Adam McMaster and Easton Armstrong all scored in the first period as the Mavericks headed into the locker trailing 3-0 for a second night in a row.

"I don't put either of these losses on our goaltenders (Shane and rookie Logan Terness)," O'Had continued. "We tighten up our defense around the net. And our scorers need to find a way to score."

Saturday night, Jeremie Biakabutuka's goal at 7:11 of the second quarter proved to be the game winner as the Mavericks made a comeback effort that fell short.

Kansas City's Bobo Carpenter scored a second-period goal and Luke Loheit and Jackson Jutting added third -period goals to cut the deficit to 4-3.

But Kansas City could not come up with the equalizer as rookie Logan Terness took the loss in his first professional start.