Tulsa blanks first place Allen 5-0.

Keserich flawless in shutout; Eastman nets 7th power play goal

ALLEN, TX-- The Tulsa Oilers traveled to Allen, Texas to face the team who had sole possession of first place in the Berry Conference of the Central Hockey League on Saturday night and handed them a stunning 5-0 shutout. It’s the second shutout this season for goalie Ian Keserich, who stopped all 45 shots he faced in the contest.

His first was a 3-0 blanking of the Quad City Mallards back on November 23. 

Five different Oilers players scored in tonight’s game. Brennan Barker, Evan Kotsopoulos, Gary Steffes, Harrison Reed and Derek Eastman all found the twine behind Allen goaltender Adrien LeMay. Eastman now has seven goals in the 2010-11 campaign and all of them have come on the power play. His came with the extra man in the first period, and in the game the Oilers went 1-for-4 with the man advantage. The Americans went 0-for-5 on the power play.

The win lifts the Oilers into third place in the conference with 27 points,tying them with Rio Grande.   It also elevates them to an even .500 with a record of 13-13-1. Chad Costello, who assisted on Eastman’s power play goal in the first lead the teams in points with 35 points on 14 goals and 21 assists, followed by his line-mates Harrison Reed with 28 points and Jack Combs with 26.

The Oilers return home to face the Odessa Jackalopes on Sunday afternoon, capping off a great day of hockey in the BOK Center with the matinee game being the GTR Cup, presented by the Oilers and GTR Newspapers, which will feature the best of high school hockey in Tulsa. The Broken Arrow Tigers high school hockey team will take on the Tulsa Comets at noon, followed by the Jenks Trojans and Union Redskins at 1:30
p.m. The championships will be held on December 21st prior to the Oilers game with the Texas Brahmas with the third place game for the GTR Cup starts at 3 p.m. followed by the championship game at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets for the Oilers game are good for the GTR Cup high school games. Tickets for all Oilers games are available at the BOK Box Office, tickets.com, Tulsa area Reasor’s stores, and by calling 1-866-7BOK-CTR (866-725-5287). More information is available by calling the Oilers office at 918-632-PUCK (7825).