RiverKings hold off Oilers, 3-1

TULSA, Okla. – The Mississippi RiverKings, fresh off a 7-3 road win on Thursday, struck first again on Friday and held on to win 3-1 over the Tulsa Oilers before an announced crowd of 3,877 at the BOK Center. The win gives the RiverKings a 2-0 best-of-five series lead over the Oilers as the series now shifts to Southaven, Mississippi. Evgeny Timkin and Patrik Levesque’s first period goals proved to be all the surprising six-seeded ‘Kings would need to shock the third-seeded Oilers. Their goals marked the second for each player in the Central Hockey League playoffs. Mississippi posted their second road playoff road win in Tulsa after posting a record of 0-1-2 at the BOK Center during the regular season. After a scoreless opening eight minutes, Timkin took a pass from Brennan Sarazin and released a shot from near the right hash that made it past Tulsa net minder Trevor Cann. Just 1:37 later Levesque put a shot on net and Cann made the initial save before he lost control of the puck and it trickled into the back of the net. Timkin and Andrew Lackner were credited with the assists.

Mississippi goaltender Alexander Pechurskiy turned away all eight Tulsa shots in the opening period, while Cann allowed two goals on six Mississippi shots. On the night, both goalies came away with 23 saves. The second period was scoreless most of the way, but fans were not disappointed. A spirited defensive period saw many hard hits, neutral zone turnovers and several offensive chances at both ends. As the hits gained in intensity, Tulsa seemed to build momentum offensively. The hometown crowd erupted at the 16:41 mark of the middle frame when with just 10-seconds remaining on a man advantage, Tom Dignard placed a puck on net that was deflected home by Michel Beausoleil for a Tulsa goal. Oilers regular season scoring leader Chad Costello got the secondary assist on the goal that cut the RiverKings’ lead in half. Tulsa’s best chance to tie the game in the final period came when Louis Dumont was sent off for tripping at the 1:32 mark, however Mississippi was able to successfully kill the penalty. Tulsa would finish the night one-for-six on the power play, while Mississippi failed to convert on nine man advantages. Veteran Chris Richards sealed the victory late in the third period for Mississippi on an empty-net goal after Tulsa coach Bruce Ramsay pulled Cann in favor of an extra attacker. The two squads will now get a much needed day off before they face-off in a crucial game three at the DeSoto Civic Center at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday. Contact the writer at john.hall@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at les.stockton@prohockeynews.com