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nivek_wahs
12-31-2007, 09:51 AM
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/sports/story.html?id=8b2671d5-565a-493e-be48-82b6710597ca


Oil Kings strike early, often against Raiders
Edmonton power-play unit goes three for five

Cam Tait, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 2:01 am

EDMONTON - Someone asked Mark Pysyk if he wanted to keep the puck from his first Western Hockey League assist Sunday.

The 15-year-old offered a smile and politely declined.

"No, I think I'll save it for my first goal," he said.

Pysyk's assist came in the third period of the Edmonton Oil Kings' 5-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders.

In only his second game since being called up from Midget AAA, Pysyk was working the power play. He made a nice move at the blue-line to keep the puck in the Raiders zone, which resulted in a Brett Breitkreuz goal with 1:23 left.

Pysyk said he was surprised to hear he was in the Oil Kings' starting lineup in front of a Sunday matinee crowd of 5,260 at Rexall Place.

"When they called my name before the game, I couldn't believe it," the Sherwood Park native said.

"I could barely skate when we first went on the ice. But after a few shifts, I got more comfortable."

Pysyk had an impressive debut Friday night against the Rebels in Red Deer and continued to win the praise of Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau.

"Mark played real well for us," Pleau said. "He's a great puck-moving defenceman, and in today's game, that's what a team really needs."

With the win, the Oil Kings move to 14-18-2-4 on the season for 34 points. They are now seven points out of the playoff picture. Edmonton has scored nine goals in the last two games.

"I thought we played real well for 54 minutes today," said Pleau. "I don't know what we were doing in the last six minutes. We could have gave it away ... inexperience, I guess."

Edmonton was three-for-five on the power play.

"We couldn't get the lead and that hurt us," said Raiders coach Bruno Campese. "Our penalty killers let us down. But give Edmonton credit -- they played very well on the power play."

There could have been a few more if it weren't for the heroics of Raiders goaltender Dustin Butler, who was peppered with 35 shots, including 15 in the second frame.

The Oil Kings stepped on the gas in the final 20 minutes, building on a 3-1 lead. Shayne Neigum scored a power-play goal with under seven minutes to go. He and Tomas Vincour, who was all over the ice and collected two assists, had their own give-and-go game going, which resulted in Neigum's second of the season. Breitkreuz then iced the cake.

Edmonton was first on the scoreboard with just under seven minutes left in the first frame after Brent Raedeke converted a beautiful pass from Breitkreuz, who was behind the net on the right side.

Defenceman Cameron Cepak gave the Oil Kings a 2-0 lead with a bullet from the point just a minute into the second

period.

Prince Albert answered at the 6:41 mark of the second period when Ryan McDonald's wrist shot beat Edmonton netminder Dalyn Flette upstairs.

The Oil Kings regained their two-goal cushion 1:23 later when blue-liner Brandon Lockerby let one fly from the point. It was Lockerby's eighth of the season and second in as many nights.

Flette made a few key saves in the first 20 minutes, including a glove grab off Zach Sim.

In all, Flette turned away 26 Raiders shots.

ICE CHIPS -- The Oil Kings wore their retro jersey with a dark blue background ... Raiders assistant coach and former Oiler Dave Manson wasn't with the team Sunday -- he was scouting in Calgary at the Midget Macs tournament ... Two minor hockey teams from St. Paul -- the Canadians and the Snipers -- played on Rexall Place ice following the game.

ctait@thejournal.canwest.com

NEXT UP

BRANDON WHEAT KINGS at OIL KINGS

Today, 6 P.M., REXALL PLACE , TEAM 1260

- Season series: Edmonton lost 6-3 in Brandon on Nov. 9

- Oil Kings' record: 14-18-4-2, fifth in the Central Division with 32 points.

- Last five: 3-1-0-1

- Not on the bench: Forward Robin Figren, who is playing for Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

- Wheat Kings' record: 23-12-0-1 for 47 points, good for second place in the East Division

- Last five: 2-3

- Homecoming: Brandon goaltender Andrew Clark is from Sherwood Park, and Jordan Hale's home is Lacombe.

New Year's Eve fireworks?

"They have a great power play -- it will be a good challenge for us," said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau. "And it could be a fun game. There were a few fights in the last game we played them, so who knows?"




© The Edmonton Journal 2007

nivek_wahs
12-31-2007, 09:53 AM
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Hockey/2007/12/31/4746663-sun.html


Shooters on target
By JASON HILLS, SUN MEDIA

The Edmonton Oil Kings turkey dinner over the Christmas break must have included some special ingredients, because the players have started to find their scoring touch.

Five different scorers and a blistering hot power play that cashed in on three of five opportunities were the keys to a yesterday's 5-1 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders in front of 5,260 fans at Rexall Place.

"If we're going to stay in this race and find a way to get into the playoffs, we need guys to perform and I think the break really helped us," said Oil Kings head coach Steve Pleau.

The Oil Kings are 2-0 since the 12-day break over Christmas and they have scored nine goals in two games, which is somewhat of an anomaly for the Oil Kings who at times have gone several games before scoring nine goals.

"This is the first back-to-back set of games where we've out-shot our opponents by more than five shots and that is what we need to do --shoot the puck," added Pleau.



They say consistency breeds confidence and the Oil Kings have shown plenty of both over the past two games.

Brent Raedeke snapped a 15-game scoring drought just before the break, and now has three goals in three games.

He got things started against the Raiders when he found some open space in the slot and converted a pass from Brett Breitkreuz.

"It's a relief," Raedeke said afterwards. "Going that long without a goal was very frustrating, but to get three in three has been really nice.

"We've been trying to create more offence by playing good defence and the coach has been harping on that. We've been doing that and it's paid off for us."

Cameron Cepek scored on Edmonton's first power play of the game early in the second period when he blasted a shot from the point past Prince Albert goalie Dustin Butler.

The Oil Kings had lots of traffic in front of Butler all night.

"It's simple point shots," said Pleau. "You can't get cute on the power play, we had (Shayne) Neigum in front of the net on the first one and Breitkreuz in front on the next two. I thought our power play executed well."

Ryan McDonald cut the Oil Kings lead to 2-1 at the 6:41 mark when fought off a check from Brandon Lockerby and backhanded a shot over the shoulder of Dayln Flette (4-5-0-2), who made 25 saves in the Edmonton net.

Lockerby is another player who had a multiple goal game.

Just 1:23 after Prince Albert cut their lead in half, Lockerby unleashed his patented one-timer from the point for his seventh goal of the season.

"We have some big shooters from the point, we saw that with Lockerby and Cepek with those cannons, but our power play is really rolling right now," said Breitkreuz.

"We have a lot of guys who are playing with a lot of energy and they are trying to put forth a consistent effort. We want to win every night and the last two games, we've had some success."

Neigum and Breitkreuz also scored for the Oil Kings.

Meanwhile, in just his second game with the Oil Kings since his Christmas break call-up, defenceman Mark Pysyk noted his first WHL point with an assist on the Oil Kings final goal.

"I didn't even know if I was going to dress today and when they announced I was going to be in the starting lineup, my eyes almost popped out of my head," said the 15-year-old Pysyk, who plays midget AAA for the Sherwood Park Kings and was the Oil Kings first pick in the WHL bantam draft.

"It's been a crazy day and a great experience ... I don't want it to end."