GAME SUMMARY: Oil Kings claim victory in Calgary
Calgary, AB – The Edmonton Oil Kings picked up a thrilling 2-1 win over the Calgary Hitmen Sunday afternoon at the Scotiabank Saddledome in their final game of the 2022-23 season.
The Oil Kings and Hitmen played a fairly even first period but a power play goal from the visitors would prove to be the difference as Edmonton took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
On the Oil Kings second man-advantage of the frame, Rilen Kovacevic found Mason Finley with a pass on the doorstep of the Calgary crease and after his shot was stopped by Ethan Buenaventura, Marshall Finnie found the rebound in the blue paint and shoveled in his eighth goal of the season.
In the second period, Sean Tschigerl would take advantage of an Edmonton turnover behind their net as he able to tuck-in a wraparound bid for a game-tying shorthanded goal at the 9:11 mark of the middle stanza.
The teams would combine for just 13 shots in the period as they arrived at the second intermission deadlocked at one.
In the third period, the Hitmen would fire 17 shots the way of Logan Cunningham, but the young Edmonton netminder would not budge kicking all of them aside to keep the game tied at one until the final seconds.
With just 26 seconds left in the game, the Oil Kings two 20-year-olds, playing in their final WHL game, connected to give Edmonton the victory as Noah Boyko set Loick Daigle up for a backdoor tap-in.
A pair of overagers net the final goal of the 2022-23 WHL Regular Season!❤️@EdmOilKings pic.twitter.com/dDKw2K1j1Z
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 26, 2023
Cunningham finished the afternoon making 32 saves for his fourth win of the season for the Oil Kings, while Buenaventura turned in 22 saves for the Hitmen. Edmonton went 1-for-3 on the power play, Calgary was 0-for-1.
Thank you, Edmonton Oil Kings fans, for another great year of hockey and Family Fun at Rogers Place, we can’t wait to see you again in September!
Head to oilkings.ca/seasonseats to secure your spot in #TheKingdom next season!
