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Oil Kings tame Tigers through two in WHL Eastern Conference final

Kelly Friesen

The Edmonton Oil Kings have the Medicine Hat Tigers on the ropes after taking the first two games of the WHL Eastern Conference final.

The Oil Kings blew the Tigers out of the water in the first game of the series. They scored seven goals in the first half of the contest and went on to take the win 8-3.

It ultimately wasn’t surprising to see Edmonton come out flying in the Friday affair. They came into the match with a full week break following knocking off the Brandon Wheat Kings in five games. Meanwhile, Medicine Hat just wrapped up their seven-game series against the Kootenay Ice on Wednesday night.

Tigers head coach Shaun Clouston didn’t point to the difference in breaks as an excuse for the Tigers’ poor start to the game, though.

“I think we weren’t quite ready, and sometimes things just happen,” Clouston told the Medicine Hat News. “They scored on the first two shots. Four on four, we just didn’t manage the puck very well. The first one we turned it over. The second one we backed right in. We had great numbers, and we just backed right in. We were just fighting it all night. Some guys that are usually really good with the puck struggled a little bit.”

After going down 7-0 in the first 30 minutes, the Tigers actually won the latter half of the contest. It all started with team captain Curtis Valk scoring a pair of goals to shift some momentum back in their favour. But the fact that Medicine Hat only allowed four shots on net in the third period practically ensured the Oil Kings wouldn’t hit double digits on the score board.

The Tigers put up a much stronger fight in the second match, but they still couldn’t generate enough offense as they fell 3-1 in Bob Ridley’s 3,542 announced game as Medicine Hat’s play-by-play guy.

Ottawa Senators first-rounder Curtis Lazar came up big for the Oil Kings. He scored the game’s opening goal on the power play in a scrum in front of Tigers goalie Marek Langhamer followed by the game-winner on the penalty kill thanks to a slick lateral pass from Edgars Kulda. The two-goal showing not only earned Lazar the first star honour for the second straight night, but he also tied Michael St. Croix’s team record for most points in the playoffs with his 46th post-season point.

The 19-year-old had no idea that he had ac­com­plished the im­pres­sive feat.

“Did I?” he asked. Once the media sur­round­ing him con­firmed it, Laz­ar sim­ply shrugged his shoul­ders and re­sponded with a one-worded “Cool.”

Laz­ar was clear­ly the best play­er on the ice in Game 2, but that didn’t real­ly mat­ter much to him. What mat­tered most in his hum­ble opin­ion was help­ing his team take a 2-0 ser­ies edge over the Tigers. Tying the fran­chise points re­cord he shares with Mi­chael St. Croix real­ly wasn’t a pri­or­ity for him. (Edmonton Journal)

Langhamer was clearly the Tigers’ best player. The Phoenix Coyotes prospect held them in the game by stopping 43 of 45 pucks following allowing five of 22 rubber bullets get by him the night before.

Chad Butcher scored Medicine Hat’s lone goal at the 12:14 mark in the second period on the power play. The snipe gives the 5-foot-9, 162-pound 18-year-old five goals in the second season; he’s only one marker away from matching the his six-goal total from his 62-game regular-season.

For the most part, Game 2 wasn’t a fast-paced match. There were bursts of offense here and there, but both defences did a good job of keeping their opponents to the outside. The vast majority of the shots were from the perimeter and there wasn’t too much traffic in front of either goaltender. This was more to the Tigers’ benefit than the Oil Kings because Medicine Hat simply can’t match their Alberta rival’s explosiveness and talent in a run-and-gun style.

Afterthoughts

It’s too early to write off the Tigers, but it’s hard to imagine the Oil Kings dropping four of five games to a team they never lost to in regulation time in the season.

The bottom line for the Tigers is they need Langhamer to stand tall in the blue paint as he did in his previous two series. Without strong goaltending, Medicine Hat doesn’t have a chance with a high-powered offense and Tristan Jarry at the other end of the ice. In addition, they need Valk, Trevor Cox and Cole Sanford to bring their A-games. Valk, the team captain, has played well, but Cox and Sanford need to elevate their efforts. They have been perimeter players so far, only notching one assist apiece through two.

Lazar takes the cake, but Henrik Samuelsson deserves his due, too. The Coyotes first-round pick, who has two goals and 12 points in 11 playoff games, has anchored the Oil Kings’ second line with a physical presence and a hunger for the puck.

Edmonton’s third line, meanwhile, of Mads Eller, Riley Kieser and Luke Bertolucci has done an excellent job of creating energy and wearing the Tigers down physically. Not to mention, they combined for one goal and three apples in the first game.

NHL draft watch: Oil Kings 17-year-old Dysin Mayo, who’s ranked 82nd among North American skaters by NHL CSS, has stood out on the blueline for his speed and quick shot. In addition, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder, who scored one goal in Game 1, has looked composed on the power play beside Colorado Avalanche prospect Cody Corbett…. Brett Pollock, who’s ranked 34th by CSS, sniped a big goal in the first contest, but he’s had a fairly quiet couple of games… Aaron Irving, who’s ranked 90th by CSS, hasn’t drawn too much attention to himself. That’s good in many ways, though, because he hasn’t made any big mistakes on Edmonton’s back end.

The Oil Kings and Tigers square off in Game 3 on Tuesday in Medicine Hat.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports Canada. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen