RAPID CITY, S.D. – Tyler Coulter broke the shutout of Roman Durny less than a minute into the final period of play, but the Tulsa Oilers were leaps and bounds ahead of the Rush by that point and cruised to a 5-1 win on Friday night. The game, featuring a chaotic final 40 minutes with 79 of the games 81 PIM in the box score, marked the second of three meetings between the longtime rivals this week.
Tulsa once again struck first in the opening frame and carried a 2-0 lead into the intermission. On their first power play of the game, Garret Cockerill took an Alex Brooks pass inside the blue line and unleashed a rocket of a one-timer that whizzed past Rush net-minder Gordy Defiel, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead with 8:42 left in the first period (Brooks and Danny Moynihan assisted). In the final minutes of the first, a turnover in front of the Rush net to Charlie Sampair gave him a close range opportunity with Moynihan. Sampair deferred to Moynihan and the latter finished the shot, pushing the Oilers to a 2-0 lead with 2:18 left in the first (Sampair had the lone assist).
The second period got out of hand on both the ice and the scoreboard, and Tulsa eventually vaulted away from the Rush. Just 61 seconds into the second period, Alex Brooks jumped in off the Rush blue line, froze Defiel with a maneuver and fired a shot by him to extend the Oilers advantage to 3-0 (Danny Moynihan and Gregg Burmaster assisted). Following the goal, Adam Carlson came into the game to man the Rush net, with Defiel leaving the game after 21:01 of his start. Past the midway point of the period, another net front turnover on a fanned pass came right to the stick of Tyler Kobryn. Kobryn, uncontested from the high slot, rifled a shot past Carlson to push the Oilers up 4-0 with 7:28 left in the second period (the goal was unassisted). Moments later, chaos struck, and eventually 41 of the game’s PIM were assessed. It put Tulsa on a five-on-three power play, and Garret Cockerill hit paydirt again with a one-timer that beat Carlson to make it a 5-0 Oilers lead with 5:06 left in the second (Adam Pleskach and Justin Taylor assisted).
Tyler Coulter provided the lone bright spot for the Rush on the scoresheet, ending Roman Durny’s shutout in Tulsa’s net. With just 57 seconds gone by in the third, Butrus Ghafari saw his first shot get blocked, and his immediate follow up on the rebound stopped by Durny. Coulter snagged his rebound and hit paydirt to get the Rush on the board and the game to its final score of 5-1 (Ghafari and Peter Quenneville assisted).
Gordy Defiel suffered the loss in 21:01 of his start, stopping 9 of 12 shots on net (2-2-0-0). Adam Carlson came in relief and stopped 18 of 20 shots in 38:59.
The Rush conclude their series against Tulsa tomorrow night, February 13th, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. MDT at Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Ice Arena. Saturday’s finale is “Decades Night”, presented by Vast Broadband. The only promotional night in February, decades from the 1960’s all the way to present day will be represented through fun games, great music, and other interactive activities throughout the night. We encourage all fans to dress appropriately for the occasion.
