TULSA, OK– Jack Combs set a laser beam of a shot past Mississippi Riverkings goalie Alexander Pechurskiy just 45 seconds into overtime to seal a victory for the Tulsa Oilers on Saturday night. Combs snatched up a nice pass from Derek Eastman and fired the puck from the left circle and it sailed past Pecurskiy and into the net just inside the right post. The BOK Center crowd, some 5.557 strong, roared their approval.
Combs 28th goal of the season capped off a comeback effort by the Oilers who fell behind Mississippi early in the first period. Patrik Levesque scored first for the Riverkings on a shot that Oilers goalie Trevor Cann appeared to save but wound up squirting past him and into the net at 3:56 of the first period. Louis Dumont scored at 17:06 of the period, giving Mississippi a 2-0 lead going into the first break.
Mike Wirill put the Oilers on the board at 8:27 of the second period with assists from Combs and Cann, and Gary Steffes slipped in one of his own at 17:04 off assists from John Mori and former Riverking Anthony Battaglia, kntting the game at 2-2. Wirill broke the tie 12:53 into the third period by tucking the puck underneath Pechurskiy as he was falling to his knees. Jack Combs and Mike Beausoleil got the assists.
That lead would last less than 40 seconds as former Tulsa Oilers captain Jeff Christian went top shelf over Trevor Cann’s shoulder to tie the game at three goals each as regulation time ended.
The win tonight by the Oilers gives them 52 points and continues a tie with the Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs that happened last night after they won and the Oilers lost to Texas. The Mudbugs won tonight in Laredo 5-0. Third place Texas also won, maintaining that position by defeating the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 4-3 in overtime. The Brahmas do have two games in hand, having played 23 games to the Oilers 25.
The Oilers continue their four game home stand this Tuesday when they take on the Missouri Mavericks at 7:05pm in the BOK Center.
Tickets for all Oilers games are available at the BOK Box Office, Tickets.com, Tulsa area Reasor’s stores, and by calling 1-866-7BOK-CTR (866-725-5287). More information is available by calling the Oilers office at 918-632-PUCK (7825).