Williams, Oilers claim game one over Steelheads

TULSA, Okla. – Goaltender Devin Williams stopped 33-of-34 shots and his Oilers teammates added just enough offense as Tulsa dropped Idaho 3-1 for a game one win in the ECHL Mountain Division Final in front of an announced crowd of 3,107 at BOK Center on Friday night.

The Steelheads out-shot the Oilers 34-26, but Williams (5-3) locked down after allowing an early Idaho goal 5:02 into the game. After the Oilers posted 11 shots to idaho’s six in the first period, Williams went on to stop 17 shots in the second and 11 in the third.

“There hasn’t been many games this season where I can say the goalie won us a game,” said Oilers Head Coach Rob Murray, adding that the Oilers allowed a league-low 22 shots per game in the regular season. “I can honestly say that tonight, Devin Williams stole us the game,” he said.

Murray said that he expected his team to be tired after a short turnaround from playing back-to-back elimination games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We looked a little sluggish and tired, but I told the guys afterwards that’s now behind us,” Murray said. “The good news is that we can be a lot better, and we will be,” he added.

Henrik Samuelsson put the Steelheads on the board to open the scoring at 5:02 of the first, as he sailed into the zone and tapped home a Charlie Dodero pass into the net from the low slot to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Tulsa remained patient, and were rewarded nearly 10-minutes later, when Adam Pleskach collected a rebound and beat Idaho goalie Tomas Sholl at 14:54 to tie the game. Eric Drapluk and Stephen Perfetto assisted on the equalizer.

Alex Dostie added his league-leading 10th playoff goal three minutes later while on the power play, taking a cross-ice pass from Perfetto and dancing into the high slot before releasing a wrist shot past Sholl, to the glove side to give Tulsa a 2-1 lead.

Neither team found the net in the middle frame, although Idaho nearly tied it up 4:01 into the period when Kale Kessy pounced on a rebound from the side of the net. After the puck trickled through Williams and teetered on the goal line, defenseman Steven Kaunisto quickly pushed the puck into the blue paint to Williams who froze it for a whistle.

Idaho continued their offensive efforts in the third, putting 11 shots on net to Tulsa’s six, but Williams and his defense came up big, making key stops to keep the game just out of reach.

Pleskach then added an empty-net goal from just outside the blueline with 1:22 remaining to secure the win by a final of 3-1.

The Oilers and Steelheads will face-off in game two at the BOK Center Sunday at 4:05pm CDT.

Contact the Writer: John.Hall@prohockeynews.com