TULSA, Okla. – Trailing 2-1 in the best-of-seven ECHL Western Conference Final, Charlie Sampair netted his third goal of the Kelly Cup Playoffs 9:41 into overtime, while Devin Williams stopped 39 Toledo Walleye shots to give the Tulsa Oilers a 2-1 win in front of an excited BOK Center crowd of 6,431 on Friday night.
The goal capped a tightly played defensive game by both teams, and resulted in Tulsa’s eighth-straight home playoff win.
“He went out in the second period, when he went off, I didn’t think he would be back,” said Oilers Head Coach Rob Murray of Sampair. “He didn’t miss a shift after that, that’s what playoff hockey is all about,” he added.
Toledo opened the scoring at 17:39 of the first period on Brenden Kotyk’s first playoff goal. With traffic in front of Williams, Kotyk sent a shot on net from the high slot that found the net to make it a 1-0 Walleye lead.
Being patient, and sticking to their own game, the Oilers found the equalizer from the stick of ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs goal leader Alex Dostie during a man advantage 8:49 into the second. With Kotyk in the box serving a hooking minor, Dostie took a pass from Adam Pleskach and rocketed a shot past Pat Nagle to tie the game at 1-1. Stephen Perfetto received the secondary assist on Dostie’s 13th post-season marker.
That goal would be the only scored on the power play, as Tulsa was 1-for-5 and Toledo went 0-for-1 on the man advantage.
The Walleye nearly re-gained the lead late in the period, when Ben Storm collected the puck off the right wall and worked his way in on Williams on a breakaway. Storm moved in on net from the right side and attempted a backhand that Williams stopped with his glove, A.J. Jenks then quickly picked up the rebound and nearly solved Williams, just hitting the left post before time ran out on the period.
“That was huge, that was the game right there,” said Murray.
The two teams would not break the deadlock in a scoreless and penalty-free third period that saw the Walleye hold a 14-11 shot advantage.
Following a third intermission, Sampair became the hero of the game mid-way through the overtime period.
As Ryan Tesink collided with Jenks and fell to the ice, Sampair swept in and carried the puck clockwise around the right circle and into the slot where he released a shot that found the top of the net, popping Nagle’s water bottle into the air and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
“The two glorious opportunities we have tonight, Dostie’s goal and Charlie’s goal were both in the slot. You miss those, maybe you don’t deserve to win, but we made sure we executed tonight,” Murray said.
With the series tied 2-2, the Oilers and Walleye will take to the BOK Center ice again at 7:05pm Central on Saturday night in game five before the series shifts back to Toledo for game six on Monday night. If necessary, game seven will take place in Tulsa on Wednesday, May 22.
Contact the Writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com
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