Oilers fall to Cincinnati 4-1 at BOK Center

With 13,388 fans in the BOK Center on Saturday for Alzheimer’s Awareness Night, the Tulsa Oilers really wanted to end the two-game series against Cincinnati with a victory, but it was not to be.

After starting strong and losing 6-4 to the Cyclones on Friday, the Oilers fell behind early on Saturday and could not keep pace, losing 4-1.

“We made too many mistakes that cost us the game. Essentially every time we made a mistake it was in our net,” Oilers coach Rob Murray said of the Oilers’ fourth straight loss.

A total of 42 minutes in penalties, 20 of which was served by the Oilers, resulted in nine power plays for the Cyclones, two of which turned into goals.

“We took five unnecessary penalties,” Murray said. “Later in the game we did a great job killing penalties. But you are rolling the same guys out there for penalty kill and power play and the guys are getting gassed.”

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Tulsa outshot Cincinnati 39-23, but miscues at the net were costly.

“We get scored on 2-1,” Murray recalled of a play that could have put the Oilers into a 2-2 tie. “Michael Farren has the puck on the goal line and I don’t know how he does not score. That would make it a 2-2 game. We had chances to score and nobody can put the puck in the net. On [Cincinnati’s] third goal we have a turnover at the blue line, 10 or 15 seconds later its in the back of our net. Even the empty-net goal, I don’t know what we were doing.”

After Tulsa pulled Daniel Mannella from goal trailing 3-1 with two minutes to play, Luka Burzan scored on a empty net at 18:32 to set the final margin of victory.

“They are a good team, but they are not unbeatable,” Murray said of Cincinnati. “You can’t give them gift goals. You have to make them work for their goals.”

The ECHL Mountain Division Oilers fell to 19-29-7-1 while Central-Division-leading Cincinnati improved to 37-12-6-3.

Power play opportunities accounted for three first period goals.

It did not take long for Cincinnati to take advantage and get off to a 1-0 lead. Just 4:48 into the game Jackson Leef was sent to the penalty box on a hooking penalty at 4:18 and Justin Vaive rifled in his 28th goal of the season for the Cyclones.

Blake McLaughlin responded for the Oilers with a power play goal at 12:35 to even the score at 1-1.

But Zach Andrusiak scored just over a minute later with on the power play to give the Cyclones a 2-1 advantage after 20 minutes.

A two-on-one play in front of the Oilers net at by Adam Berg at 11:41 of the second period put the Cyclones up 3-1.

First Period: 1, Cincinnati, Vaive 28 (Caporusso, Polino) 4:48 (pp). 2, Tulsa, McLaughlin 8 (Boudrias, Sheriff) 12:35 (pp). 3, Cincinnati Andrusiak 25 (Smereck, Caporusso) 13:43 (pp). Penalties: Tulsa, Leef (hooking) 4;18. Cincinnati, Smereck (interference) 7:51. Cincinnati, Cairns (tripping) 12:08. Tulsa, Supryka (interference) 13:26. Cincinnati, Caron (roughing) 15:27. Tulsa, Farren (roughing) 15:27. Tulsa, Kromm (boarding) 17:52.

Second Period: 4, Berg 1 (MacLean, Berzolla) 11:41. Penalties: Tulsa, Boudrias (slashing) 1:05. Cincinnati, Burzan (slashing) 2:33. Cincinnati, Burnside (slashing) 3:37. Tulsa, Boudrias (holding) 5:44. Tulsa, McLaughlin (holding) 8:33. Cincinnati, Olischefski (double minor, roughing, cross checking) 12:31. Tulsa, Matsushima (roughing) 12:31. Cincinnati, Burnside (slashing) 16:24. Tulsa, Bean (interference) 18:57.

Third Period: 5, Cincinnati, Burzan 7 (unassisted) 18:32 (en). Penalties: Tulsa, Bean (delay of game) 2:23. Cincinnati, Berzolla (holding) 3:22. Tulsa, Supryka (cross checking) 6:57. Cincinnati, Passolt (delay of game) 12:57.

Power Plays: Cincinnati, 2-9. Tulsa, 1-8. Shots: Cincinnati, 9-10-4—23. Tulsa, 10-8-16—34. Saves: Cincinnati, Sinclair, 9-8-16—33. Tulsa, Mannella, 7-9-3—19. Referees: David Lilly, Tyler Hascall. A: 13,388.

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