TULSA, Okla — The Tulsa Oilers were allowed 5 chances with a man advantage and couldn’t score as the Mississippi Riverkings handed them a 6-4 loss Friday night at the BOK Center. The Riverkings were given 9 chances and converted three of them, so it’s clear that inconsistant play on the part of the men in blue might result in some tough choices on the part of Oilers coach Dan Hodge.
The Oilers were hoping to extend a home win streak to 3 and had a lot of hope after getting past the league topping Colorado Eagles last week on the road. The Riverkings opened the scoring at 6:59 with a shorthanded tally by Louis Dumont and were followed by a pair of goals by the Oilers. Team captain Jeff Christian scored first to tie the score at on on assists from Michel Beausoliel and Brendon Hodge.
Beausoliel, the hero in the Oilers defeat of the Colorado Eagles last week scored the go-ahead goal assisted again by Brendon Hodge. After a Riverkings goal by Matt Summers tied things up, Tulsa’s Jake Riddle skated in on Mississippi goalie Kevin Beech and popped in a nice top shelf goal unassisted and the period ended with Tulsa leading 3-2.
From there, it was pretty much all Mississippi. The Oilers did their level best to keep things close, but the fact that they could not convert a single power play opportunity was their downfall. After the game, Dan Hodge bemoaned the fact that his players were failing in the basics of the game, and indicated that drastic changes might be in the offing should the pattern continue.
The Oilers are on the road in Texas on Saturday, then return home to face the Wichita Thunder on Sunday in a rare afternoon matinee game.
contact the author at: rich.lohman@prohockeynews.com
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