With a number of players out of the lineup, and Eric Freschi claimed off waivers to get the the minimum amount of skaters, Wednesday’s game promised to be a challenge from the word go. However, the Grizzlies are not exactly strangers to playing short-handed, and had previously risen to the occasion. Not quite so much this time.
First Period
- Decent start so far, the three shots on Kevin Carr were turned aside with ease.
- The Grizzlies look pretty scrambly, but they also seem to be getting where they need to be, so no harm done.
- Two icings in a row? Not ideal.
- Neither is that goal. 1-0 Tulsa.
- Neither was that goal.
- Lots and lots of offensive zone time for Tulsa, and it shows. Shots are 8-1 in their favor.
- Jack Walker and Taylor Richart showing off their wheels and their puck possession ability on that shift, which leads to a rare (in this game) offensive zone face-off.
- Austin Carroll takes a double minor for high sticking, and Walker gets tied up trying to clear the puck. The fans are not thrilled by the lack of a call.
- Utah whiffs badly on the clear, fortunately Carr stops it.
- A few hiccups aside, that was a very determined kill from the Grizzlies.
- Out-shot 13-2 through the first 20 is pretty uncharacteristically terrible though.
Second Period
- Hey look, a shot!
- Really nice look from J.T. Henke, but unfortunately the puck goes straight into the crest on Fitzpatrick’s jersey.
- The Grizzlies have been much better this period, getting some offensive zone time as well as some good chances, and it leads to a power play.
- On the other hand, this is not a great power play.
- We’ve hit double digits on the shot clock!
- Well, the polish, finish, etc. may not be there, but at least there’s some effort.
- Just when things were…well, maybe not looking up, but at least looking better, 3-0 Tulsa on the power play.
- There have been a really surprising amount of whiffs on passes by guys who almost never make even a bad pass, let alone miss one entirely.
- Well, shots are slightly more respectable, 19-11 for Tulsa, who now leads 3-0…
Third Period
- Big poke-check by Carr there to prevent a shot.
- WHAT. A. BREAKAWAY. Carroll breaks the shut out!
- Then Carr immediately makes a couple of big saves to keep them within two.
- Walker with a big hit that the crowd appreciates!
- Each period has gotten progressively better, but good enough to score two more goals in eight minutes? I guess we’ll see.
- Marchment and Carroll had a really hard working offensive zone shift, followed by a really strong effort from McGauley and Raats in the defensive zone.
- There have been a lot of broken sticks this game.
- Three to go, Utah power play, Carr pulled for the extra skater.
- Aaaand negated. Four-on-four, Carr pulled again for the extra skater.
- Empty net goal for Tulsa ices this one away.
- 4-1 Oilers.
Overall, it was a fairly abysmal outing. Yes there was improvement from the first period, but even then, there were still whiffed passes, whiffed clears, and not a lot of shots, let alone good scoring chances.
Photo courtesy of Jess Fleming and staff.
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