TULSA, Okla. – The Tulsa Oilers saw a 2-0 lead disappear, thanks to back-to-back goals from Evansville IceMen rookie Alex Wideman, but the Oilers scored three unanswered to top the IceMen 5-2 Friday at the BOK Center.
The Oilers scored quickly after killing off an early first period penalty, when Jimmy Lodge shot the puck past IceMen goalie Scott Greenham from the half wall. Greenham appeared to have been bumped on the play and was scrambling to get back to his feet when the puck went in. Brian Nugent gave Tulsa a 2-0 lead at 7:31, when he tapped in a centering pass on a 2-on-1 rush.
Evansville cut the lead in half with 4:57 left in the frame, when Wideman scooped up a loose puck out of a goal-mouth scramble and lifted it over Oilers’ goalie Jussi Olkinuora from low in the right circle. The IceMen trailed 2-1 after one, but outshot Tulsa in 13-11 in the opening frame.
Seconds after IceMen forward Tyson Fawcett dropped the gloves against Brady Ramsay, Wideman scored his second of the game at 4:08 of the second period when he ripped a wrist shot under Olkinuora’s glove from high in the slot to tie the game at 2-2. Tulsa, however, added two goals in the final six minutes of the stanza to take a 4-2 lead into the third.
First, Phil Brewer tipped a shot from the point past Greenham to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 14:06. Dan DeSalvo finished off a rush in transition by deflecting a centering pass between Greenham’s legs to make it 4-2 shortly after Brewer’s goal.
Olkinuora kept the IceMen off the board in the third period, stopping all 17 shots he faced on his way to the win. The Finnish goaltender stopped 34 shots in the game, including three Evansville breakaways. Tulsa forward Jordan Kremyr added an insurance goal in the final minutes finish the scoring. Greenham made 23 saves in the loss.
With Evansville IceMen release
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