Oilers fall to Missouri 4-2

TULSA, OK-- When you score four unanswered goals in the first period of a hockey game, odds are better than usual that you will be ahead at the final horn. That’s precisely what happened on Tuesday night when the Tulsa Oilers took on the Missouri Maverick in front of 3,446 fans in the BOK Center.

Sure, in the end the Oilers had cut the deficit in half, but the game’s final score made the game sound closer than it really was. The Oilers played with no heart in the first period whatsoever. Ryan Jardine scored a pair of goals in the first and Toby Lafrance and Mike Berry the other two and that made the hill very steep for the Tulsa team to climb.

It was so bad in the opening period after 13 minutes and three goals on the BOK Center’s big board that Oilersa Coach Bruce Ramsay elected to replace staring goalie Trevor Cann with Ian Keserich, who was fresh off the injured reserve. Keserich would allow the final Mavericks goal but did not surrender any more. Cann finished the game having faced 8 shots and stopping five. Keserich finished the game stopping 22-of-23.

Jack Combs and Michel Beausoleil scored in the second an third periods respectively, but in the end it was the tight defense of the Mavericks that made the difference for Missouri and the Oilers rushes were stifled at the Mavs blue line or in the neutral zone itself.

The loss by the Oilers caused a shuffling on the overall standings in the CHL’s Berry Conference as well

Tulsa lost tonight, and the the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs did also, who lost in a shutout to the Wichita Thunder 3-0. The Texas Brahmas defeated the Laredo Bucks 4-2 on Tuesday night, and that allowed them to leapfrog the Oilers and the Mudbugs, giving them one point cushion in the standing over Tulsa and Bossier, 53 points the 52.

The Oilers will close out their four game home stand on Friday night against the Evansville Icemen at 7:35pm in the BOK Center. It will be Military Night presented by KTUL-TV and the Oklahoma Army National Guard, and will feature ticket discounts for military personnel.

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).