The Edmonton Oil Kings enter their fourth game of the season with a 1-1-0-1 record and have had quite a strong start. They are coming off of a 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday, Sep. 29th in a shootout thriller and will be looking to get their revenge just two days later back at Rogers Place. The Hurricanes improved to 3-0-0-0 with their most recent win over the Oil Kings and will be looking to continue their hot start under controversial new head coach, Bill Peters. Their first battle of the season was a solid back-and-forth contest, and I would expect nothing less from their second matchup.
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The Oil Kings are coming off of a strong performance from forward Nathan Pilling, who scored two goals in his first game back since returning from Calgary Flames‘ training camp. Vojtech Port also returned last game after attending the Anaheim Ducks’ training camp and had a strong impact defensively. Aidan Litke had two assists and now has five points in his first three games this season and leads the Oil Kings in scoring. Logan Wormald leads the Hurricanes in scoring with two goals and two assists for four points through three games.
Game Notes/Keys to Winning
The Oil Kings will still be less than 100% on Sunday afternoon, with Gavin Hodnett and Ty Nash still among the injuries the team is dealing with. The team will be looking to build on what was a strong first three games and will be looking to add their second win of the season. The Oil Kings got into some bad penalty trouble in their previous game and will have to stay out of the box if they hope to defeat a strong Hurricanes team. The Hurricanes have a lethal man advantage, so having them go to the powerplay multiple times in their last game led to their ultimate loss.
The Oil Kings will be looking to ride the hot hand of forward John Szabo, who is currently on a three-game point streak. Coming into the season he was expected to be a middle-six forward that could provide some offense, but he has done more than that having scored a goal and two assists to start the season.
“It’s fantastic to see this start for John (Szabo) and it’s perspective a bit – a lot of frustration last year for him as a player both from a production standpoint early on in the season and then an injury that derailed the majority of his year but now he’s playing a lot more free, he’s enjoying himself, he’s working his tail off and we’re certainly happy to have him back in our lineup.”
– Oil Kings Head Coach Luke Pierce (Oil Kings Preview vs Hurricanes – Andrew Peard)
The Oil Kings found a dynamic duo in Litke and Pilling last game and played a solid game for the full 60 minutes. Unfortunately for them, a few mistakes led to a shootout loss. They will need to rely on their stars yet again and hope they can lead them over this strong Hurricanes lineup. While they are still without Hodnett and Nash who will eventually provide a massive offensive boost, they have a few forwards who have proven they can carry the load until they return. The Oil Kings need another full 60 minutes of play if they want a chance of taking home a win, and that extends from goaltending, to defensemen, to forwards.
Oil Kings Looking to Even Season Series
The Oil Kings will be coming into this game wanting to even their season series and enter a stretch of games that should be a bit easier with a winning record. They need a full 60 minutes of play and need to stay out of penalty trouble if they want success on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 1). There have been no lineups posted by either team as of yet, but there shouldn’t be many changes to either sides lines in comparison to their previous matchup.
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