Tulsa, OK (1/19/18)— Joe Faust’s slap shot past Devin Williams with 4:48 left in regulation held up as the winner on Friday night, as the Idaho Steelheads (22-11-6) topped the Tulsa Oilers (15-16-8) 4-2 at BOK Center. The Steelheads have earned at least a point in six of the last seven games.
Off an offensive zone face-off, Jefferson Dahl won the puck cleanly back to the right point. Faust stepped into a one-timer that beat Williams to the blocker side for his fifth goal of the season to make it 3-2 Steelheads.
AJ White would add his fourth goal of the year into an empty net with 46 seconds remaining to cement a 4-2 victory, Idaho’s fifth consecutive win at BOK Center dating back to December 11, 2015.
The Steelheads opened the scoring at 3:25 of the second period, when Daniel Tedesco beat Williams for his second goal of the season. Williams made the initial save on an Eric Sweetman point shot, the rebound rolling to the side of the net. White scooped up the loose puck and fed Tedesco in front for a 1-0 Idaho lead.
The Oilers drew even at 11:44 of the second when Conner Bleackley cut through the Idaho defense on a give-and-go with Kale Kessy. Bleackley beat Desrosiers over the shoulder for his 15th goal of the season to make it 1-1. At 17:01 the Oilers made it 2-1 when Vladimir Nikiforov found Ryan Tesink with a cross-ice pass at the right post for Tesink’s fourth goal of the year.
The Steelheads were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the Tesink goal, but they would still tie the game at 18:39 with their seventh shorthanded goal of the season. After Connor Chatham forced a turnover in the neutral zone, he carried the puck down the left wing wall and fired a shot off Williams, the rebound put in by Steve McParland for his 17th goal of the season.
Philippe Desrosiers made 26 saves for his 16th win of the season, including post-to-post saves on Justin Selman and Charlie Sampair in the third period to protect a 2-2 tie.
The Steelheads and Oilers meet again at BOK Center on Saturday night to wrap up their two-game set. Puck-drop is scheduled for 6:05pm MT with the game available on 1350AM KTIK and on ECHLTV.
With Idaho Steelheads release
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