Sunday, January 4, 2015

Edmonton 3 Kootenay 1

From Chris Wahl ... http://www.kootenayice.net/article/oil-kings-stifle-ice-attack-saturday

Tristan Jarry turned aside 32 shots as the Edmonton Oil Kings defeated the Kootenay ICE 3-1 Saturday at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Matt Alfaro scored the lone ICE goal as Kootenay's string of seven consecutive games with at least one point ended at the hands of the defending Memorial Cup champions.

The ICE outshot Edmonton 10-9 in the opening frame, but fell behind just past the midway mark when Brett Pollock wristed home a power-play marker for the Oil Kings.

Kootenay stormed out of the gate in period two, tying the game 10:12 into the middle frame when a Tyler King point shot caromed into the Edmonton net off a well-positioned Alfaro, who scored his sixth goal of the season.

The hosts answered back just under four minutes later when rookie forward Davis Koch beat ICE netminder Wyatt Hoflin for his second goal of the campaign.

Kootenay failed to equalize on two third-period power-plays before Lane Bauer added insurance for the Oil Kings with an empty-net goal with 42 seconds left. The ICE finished 0-7 with the man advantage.

Hoflin, making his 28th consecutive start, made 29 saves for Kootenay.

Austin Vetterl added an assist for the ICE.

Before the game, Kootenay announced defenseman Tanner Lishchynsky would remain with the club for the rest of the 2014-15 season. The 19 year-old Saskatoon native had previously been eligible to play five games with the ICE as an affiliated player.

UP NEXT: the ICE return home for a pair of games beginning January 9th versus the Red Deer Rebels. Game time is 7:00 pm at Western Financial Place.