INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — The Tulsa Oilers, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, and powered by Community Care, lost 5-2 to the Kansas City Mavericks at Cable Dahmer Arena on Wednesday night.
Tomas Suchanek stopped 16 shots as the Oilers played in a scoreless opening period for the third straight game.
Andrei Bakanov scored in his Oilers debut to open the scoring 2:52 in the second period, firing the puck just inside the far post through a screen to beat Jack LaFontaine and place the Oilers up 1-0. Nolan Sullivan tied the game 1-1 less than three minutes later, kicking the puck into the net. Despite the kicking motion and being called no goal on the ice, something must have been seen on the replay to award the strike. Landom McCallum scored his 11th of the season to give the Mavericks the lead 34 seconds into the second half of the contest, backhanding a blocked shot past Suchanek on the power play. Just 1:28 later Justin Michaelian tied the game 2-2, snapping a 24-game goal drought with a silky move in tight. However, Michaelian’s celebration was short-lived, being assessed a five-minute major for slew-footing before the frame was over.
Casey Carreau scored the eventual game-winning goal with 51 seconds remaining on the five-minute power play. Justin Janicke scored with 13 minutes remaining, blasting a one timer from the slot off one knee to go up 4-2. An empty-net goal from Jackson Jutting in the final minute closed the score 5-2 in favor of the Mavericks.
The second-of-three games between the Oilers and Mavericks at Cable Dahmer Arena this week takes place on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m.
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