Oilers lose in shootout at the BOK Corral.

TULSA, OK--Once again, a one-goal loss downs the Tulsa Oilers on a Tuesday night.

Three goals by the Riddle brothers, Troy scoring one and Jake scoring two were not enough as the Oilers fell to the Missouri Mavericks in a shootout that further jumbles the last three spots in the CHL North conference playoff race.  The saving grace of the night was that the loss counted for a standing point for Tulsa, and improved their position in the CHL North standings.

Going into the game tonight the Oilers sat at 24-20-3 with 51 points, in 5th place and one point behind Mississippi and Missouri sitting at 22-22-4 with 48 points in 6th place.  The Mavericks victory tonight lifts them to 5th place behind the Oilers and the Riverkings who are now tied for fourth place.  Tulsa has the game in hand over both Missouri and Mississippi.

The first period was a stampede of wild horses, with Nick Sirota scoring for the Mavericks with only 12 seconds elapsed on the clock and that was followed at 11:02 by a goal by Braden Walls to put Missouri up 2-0 at the first break.  Jake Riddle scored his two goals for the Oilers, both on the power play at 3:07 and 15:54 and his brother Troy netted his goal shorthanded at 9:35.  Tulsa came into the game tonight a bit depleted as Trevor Cann was reassigned to lake Erie by the Colorado Avalanche on Monday, and though he took some 31 shots, goalie Marty Magers fought valiantly in net for the Oilers.

Former Tulsa Oiler Tom Maldonado scored the tying marker 23 seconds into the third, and after a brief scare involving disallowed goal by Missouri the game would end knotted at 3-3.  After a scoreless overtime period, the stage was set for a shootout.

Missouri goalie Charlie Effinger would stop 4 of 5 shooters for Tulsa in the tiebreaker, but the Mavericks would score twice and earn their second standing point on the night.  The two teams will face off again, this time in Independence, on Thursday night.

Once again, the Oilers slow start in the first period plagued them as it has since the departure of Rob Hisey to the AHL in December.  If Tulsa is to make a meaningful stand in the playoffs it is imperative that they find a prove goal scorer to fill the huge void that Hisey left when the AHL opportunity took him away. 

Some hope is on the horizon as one of the Oilers former scoring leaders, David Alexandre Beauregard was seen in the crowd, leading to speculation that he may don the #10 jersey and take the ice once again.  There has been no confirmation of any impending roster moves officially from the Oilers office at press time.

The Oilers will be back at home for a 4:05 matinee game in the amazing BOK Center this Sunday against the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs, a team they will face in the CenturyTel Center this coming Friday night as well.  The Sunday game will feature a game by Tulsa’s only junior “A” hockey team, the Rampage who will face the Boulder Bison at 12:30pm and will lead into the Oilers game at 4:05.

Tickets for that game and the remaining Oilers home games can be purchased at the BOK Center box office, tulsaoilers.com and all Reasors locations.  Oilers games are broadcast online at edgetulsa.com with Steve McCall providing all of the exciting play-by-play action.

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Photos by: Kevin Pyle

POWERPLAYS
Missouri 0 for 10 : Tulsa 2 for 8

SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Missouri - Nick Sirota (Derek Pallardy, Simon Watson) 0:12
Missouri - Braden Walls (Derek Pallardy, Carlyle Lewis) 11:02
Period 2
Tulsa - Jake Riddle (powerplay) (Derek Eastman, Travis Banga) 3:07
Tulsa - Troy Riddle (shorthanded) (unassisted) 9:35
Tulsa - Jake Riddle (powerplay) (Travis Banga, Tyler Butler) 15:54
Period 3
Missouri - Tom Maldonado (Simon Watson) 0:23
Overtime
(no scoring)
SHOOTOUT
Missouri - Jordan Foreman

PENALTIES
Period 1
Tulsa - Dan Riedel - (Hooking), 2 min, 1:49
Tulsa - Marty Standish - (Cross Checking), 2 min, 3:31
Tulsa - Jake Riddle - (Hooking), 2 min, 7:59
Missouri - Carlyle Lewis - (Holding), 2 min, 12:07
Missouri - Nick Sirota - (Tripping), 2 min, 14:11
Period 2
Tulsa - Thomas Harrison - (Elbowing), 2 min, 1:19
Tulsa - Thomas Harrison - (Fighting Major), 5 min, 1:19
Missouri - Brett Hammond - (Elbowing), 2 min, 1:19
Missouri - Carlyle Lewis - (Fighting (Instigator)), 2 min, 1:19
Missouri - Carlyle Lewis - (Fighting Major), 5 min, 1:19
Missouri - Carlyle Lewis - (Fighting (Instigator) Misconduct), 10 min, 1:19
Missouri - Nick Sirota - (Interference), 2 min, 4:30
Tulsa - Jeff Gumaer - (Elbowing), 2 min, 7:08
Tulsa - Derek Eastman - (Interference), 2 min, 8:44
Tulsa - Sean Erickson - (Handling the Puck), 2 min, 10:59
Tulsa - Derek Eastman - (Interference), 2 min, 11:42
Missouri - Derek Pallardy - (Tripping), 2 min, 15:18
Tulsa - TJ Caig - (Too Many Men Bench Minor), 2 min, 19:01
Missouri - Mike Burgoyne - (Goalie Interference), 2 min, 19:58
Period 3
Tulsa - Derek Merlini - (Interference), 2 min, 8:53
Missouri - Simon Watson - (Tripping), 2 min, 9:15
Missouri - Braden Walls - (Interference), 2 min, 14:09
Tulsa - Derek Eastman - (Holding), 2 min, 14:38
Overtime
(no penalties)

GAME LENGTH: 2:47
ATTENDANCE: 3,671
REFEREE: Ryan Hersey
LINES 1: Bill McGoldrick
LINES 2: Jordan Crowell
1ST STAR: Foreman, Jordan (MIZ)
2ND STAR: Riddle, Jake (TUL)
3RD STAR: Riddle, Troy (TUL)