Tulsa tops Mississippi 5-2

TULSA, Okla. – For the first time in 17 years, the Tulsa Oilers are moving on to the second round of the Central Hockey League playoffs. The Oilers put forth perhaps their most spirited effort of the season Saturday night as they defeated the Mississippi RiverKings 5-2 in front of a rowdy crowd of 4,556 at the BOK Center, clinching a game five win in the best-of-five opening round series in the Berry Conference playoffs. Chad Costello and Jack Combs each turned in three points on the night (two goals and one assist for both) as Tulsa became the first team to win on home ice in the series. Tulsa quickly found themselves down 2-0 in the series, only to turn things around and win three straight, including two games in Mississippi, to eliminate the RiverKings and set up a Berry Conference semi-final with the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. “We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year,” Oilers Head Coach Bruce Ramsay said following the game. “They’ve got a lot of character and they’re determined. When we play certain teams they look at us like there is a bunch of no-names, nobody knows who we are. I think we’re making a statement and we’re getting some names out there that people are starting to recognize,” he said.

One of those names has to be Costello. After leading the Oilers throughout the regular season, a call up to the AHL Lake Erie Monsters left him with just one point in eight games. Since returning to Tulsa, Costello has tallied nine points (4 G, 5 A) to close out the regular season and now sits atop the CHL playoff scoring chart with 11 points (4 G, 7 A) through five post-season contests. Combs struck first on Saturday night, sneaking the puck past the pads of Mississippi goalie Alexander Pechurskiy for an unassisted goal and a 1-0 lead for Tulsa. It marked the fifth time in the five-game series that the team scoring first claimed the win. Costello added to the Oilers’ lead eight-minutes later as he collected a rebound off the left boards and fired a shot that beat Pechurskiy glove-side at 14:01 of the first. Assists went to Combs and Michel Beausoleil. Costello added his second goal of the night at 17:06 of the middle frame. Ahead of the play, Costello took a break-away pass from Sean Erickson, deked left and sent the puck home to the right side of the cage for a 3-0 lead. Mississippi made things interesting in the third period, scoring two unanswered goals in a span of 1:01 to pull back within one. Darrell Stoddard scored even-strength at 2:36 on a rush in front of Oilers goaltender Trevor Cann. Tyler Sheldrake and Patrik Levesque were awarded assists on the play. With Tulsa’s Braden Walls in the penalty box serving a slashing minor, Chris Auger made the score 3-2 with a power play goal at 3:37, assisted by Matt Summers and Chris Richards. Less than three minutes later though, Walls gained redemption and shifted the momentum back in the Oilers’ direction. Walls took a feed from Marty Standish and worked his way towards the net from the right circle before firing a shot that went past Pechurskiy and into the net at 6:13 to put the Oilers ahead by two. Just 37-seconds later, Combs redirected a Costello shot, beating Pechurskiy top-shelf, glove-side for a 5-2 lead. For the remainder of the period Cann took over, stopping five shots while the Tulsa defense tightened up, denying any rebound attempts. As the clock ticked down, the crowd got louder, erupting in celebration at the final buzzer. After a couple of days off, the Oilers will shift their focus to the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. The best-of-five semi-final series will get underway Friday at 7:05 p.m. at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City. Tulsa has struggled against the Mudbugs, winning only once in three meetings this season. “We know going in we’re playing a quality hockey team, but it should be a great series,” Ramsay said. Contact the author at john.hall@prohockeynews.com Contact the photographer at les.stockton@prohockeynews.com