Cranbrook, BC – Edmonton Oil King forward Kritians Pelss scored at 3:55 of overtime in a 5-4 win over the Kootenay ICE in WHL action on Wednesday night.
The Oil Kings (48-15-3-4) opened the scoring in the first on a 3-on-2 break with Rhett Rachinski getting a partial breakaway and scored with a wrist shot high on the glove side.
In the second period the ICE (36-25-5-4) tied the game with the clubs skating 4-on-4 as Joey Leach stepped into a slap shot from the blueline that beat the partially screened goalie on the glove side.
1:25 later the ICE took a 2-1 lead as Spencer Wand scored his 1st career goal with a slp shot through the goalies’ legs.
2:11 later the Oil Kings tied the game with Michael St. Croix, the team leader in scoring, alone near the crease with a loose puck and a wide open net.
The ICE made it 3-2 as Joe Antilla put a pass to top the crease and Brock Montgomery crashed the net and put the puck into the net. The goal was reviewed for a couple of minutes to see if the puck was kicked into the net.
1:22 later the Oil Kings tied the game on a 2-on-1 break with Cole Benson near the crease for a open net goal.
In the third period the ICE took a 4-3 lead on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break with Jagger Dirk coming down the right wing and scored with a wrist shot on the stick side.
31 seconds later on the same powerplay the Oil Kings tied the game with a rebound goal by Tritan Sieben.
In overtime the Oil King got a breakaway goal from Kristans Pelss.
The ICE are tied with Saskatoon for 6th place in the Conference, 1 point behind Regina amd 2 ahead of Brandon.
All 4 teams have 2 games left in the regular season.
The ICE will host Calgary on Friday.
Edmonton, who have clinched 1st place in the East Conference, did not dress veterans Klarc Wilson and Jordan Peddle, while Dylan Wruck (7 assists vs ICE in 5 games this season) is day-to-day with an upper body injury.
ICE forward Sam Reinhart and Oil Kings starting goalie Tristan Jarry won a Gold Medal for Team BC at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax.
Kootenay’s record against teams they could face in the 1st round of the playoffs … Edmonton 0-3-2-1, Moose Jaw 1-2-1-0, Medicine Hat 3-3-0-0, Calgary 5-1-0-0 (with 2 games remaining).
Edmonton’s record against teams they could face in the 1st round of the playoffs … Kootenay 6-0-0-0, Saskatoon 3-1-0-0, Regina 0-4-0-0 and Brandon 3-1-0-0.
Edmonton has had only 2 losing streaks all year, 0-2-0-0 in late October and 0-2-0-1 in Mid-November.
ICE Scratches – Luke Philp, Mike Simpson, Drew Czerwonka (12th game, lower body, 1-2 weeks).
Game Summary
Edmonton 48-15-3-4 Kootenay 36-25-5-4
1st Period
1, Edmonton, Rachinski 27 (Foster), 4:46.
Penalties-St. Croix Edm (slashing), 1:33; Leach Ktn (slashing), 2:26; Foster Edm (interference), 12:08; Ewanyk Edm (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 17:13; Ismond Ktn (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 17:13.
2nd Period
2, Kootenay, Leach 11 (M.Reinhart, S.Reinhart), 5:57.
3, Kootenay, Wand 1 7:22.
4, Edmonton, St. Croix 43 (Gernat), 9:33.
5, Kootenay, Montgomery 22 (Antilla), 15:31.
6, Edmonton, Benson 5 (Sieben, Pysyk), 16:53.
Penalties-Pelss Edm (interference), 2:26; Pysyk Edm (roughing), 4:44; Martin Ktn (roughing), 4:44; Pysyk Edm (roughing), 19:24.
3rd Period
7, Kootenay, Dirk 7 10:21 (SH).
8, Edmonton, Sieben 5 (Gernat, Rachinski), 10:52 (PP).
Penalties- M.Reinhart Ktn (tripping), 8:54; M.Reinhart Ktn (tripping), 13:02; Pysyk Edm (boarding), 16:17.
OT Period
9, Edmonton, Pelss 27 3:55.
Penalties-No Penalties
Shots on Goal-Edmonton 9-10-10-3-32. Kootenay 11-12-8-2-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Edmonton 1 / 3; Kootenay 0 / 5.
Goalies-Edmonton, Jarry 8-2-1-0 (33 shots-29 saves). Kootenay, Lieuwen 27-19-5-2 (32 shots-27 saves).
A-2,896
Referees-Trent Knorr (42), Pat Smith (12).
Linesmen-Steve Cochrane (125), Sean Donnelly (109).