The Edmonton Oil Kings will be looking to build on the strong opening weekend they had in a back-to-back series against the Red Deer Rebels. They won their first matchup in Red Deer 4-3 and returned home hoping to find the same success, unfortunately, they weren’t able to follow it up with another win and lost 4-3 in their home opener after a heartbreaking late goal from Rebels forward Kai Uchacz sealed the deal. Their third game of the season is a matchup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, who have started the season with two straight wins. The Oil Kings will be looking to pick up their first home win of the season while the Hurricanes will be looking to continue their strong start.
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The Oil Kings have been led offensively by Aidan Litke, Parker Alcos and Marshall Finnie who all have three points through the first two games. A solid showing from defenceman Marc Lajoie has him tied for fourth in points with two alongside John Szabo. The Hurricanes are led offensively by Brayden Edwards, Logan Wormald and Kale Tipler who all have three points, while Logan McCutheon and three other players are tied with two points. In goal, Hurricanes goaltender Harrison Meneghin has been lights out, allowing only three goals on 67 shots. For the Oil Kings, both Kolby Hay and Logan Cunningham have been solid, and a strong performance from them will be one of the team’s keys to victory.
Game Notes/Keys to Winning
The Oil Kings will have a huge boost to their lineup against the Hurricanes as Nathan Pilling and Vojtech Port have both returned from their NHL training camps and will play. Pilling hasn’t played since Jan. 10 after he missed the final 28 games of the 2022-23 season with an injury, and is looking to build off of a good season where he scored 10 goals and added three assists for 13 points through 35 games split between the Oil Kings and Moose Jaw Warriors. Port played 46 games scoring four goals and adding 13 assists for 17 points and led the way offensively on the blue line. With Port rejoining the team and Lajoie starting to prove why he’s a star, the Oil Kings’ blue line will be fun to watch.
For the Hurricanes, they’ve played well enough that they really don’t need to change much. They have started 2-0-0-0 for a reason, and just need to stay consistent. For the Oil Kings, they need to finish strong. They’ve started each game quite well and have shut the other team down for the majority of the game, but they lost their second matchup because of a late-game lapse. If they can play a full 60 minutes at 100 percent, they will beat the Hurricanes. It will be a good test for the Oil Kings, but they can win this game if they follow their gameplan and finish strong.
Oil Kings Have Full Roster Now, Time to Showcase the Team’s Strength
With the additions of Pilling and Port, the Oil Kings have a really strong lineup on paper heading into their matchup against the Hurricanes. There are almost no weaknesses within their lineup, and they have a chance to push for the playoffs if they continue to play the way they’ve started out the season. They have been playing well but with a full team now, they have no excuses. They are coming off of a really bad season where they only won 10 games, but this team is so much stronger this season. Hopefully, they can continue their strong start by following their game plan, playing a full 60 minutes, and moving their record to 2-1-0-0.
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