Pleskach Leads Tulsa OT Comeback, 3-2
WICHITA, KS – For 50 minutes, the Wichita Thunder were dominating the Tulsa Oilers. However, you can’t let these Oilers back into the contest. That is what happened on Friday evening as Tulsa got two goals from Adam Pleskach and the game winner in OT to defeat the Thunder, 3-2. Ryan DaSilva scored the game winner. Stephen Johnson had two points for Wichita.
The Thunder jumped out in front 1:57 into the contest. David Thompson gained control of the puck along the boards, making a perfect feed into the slot where Michal Stinil redirected the puck past Daniel Mannella to put Wichita on top, 1-0. For Stinil, it was his fifth goal of the year.
The first period was a wild affair that saw both teams have several great scoring chances. Joe Manchurek looked like he was going to get his first goal of the season when the puck took an odd bounce off the boards and right onto the stick of Manchurek in the slot. Mannella had gone behind the net thinking the puck would come to him. He scrambled quickly to get into position to stop Manchurek from firing a shot into the empty net, and it appeared like he got a small piece of it to deny the chance.
The Thunder added to their lead with a power-play goal at 6:05 of the second period. Cam Clarke fired a shot that was knocked down in front. Stefan Fournier gained control and put a shot that was saved, but Johnson corralled the puck, putting in the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
Thunder goaltender Evan Buitenhuis was making that lead stand, stopping 27 shots through the first two periods. The goaltender was brilliant in making his first start since returning from Bakersfield (AHL), but a couple of questionable calls gave Tulsa the opportunity to get back into the contest.
The first came at 11:09 with the Oilers on the power-play. It appeared that Jay Dickman’s stick had been slashed out of his hands as he headed up the ice. That allowed the Oilers to get control of the puck. Jack Doremus moved the puck to Pleskach, who beat Buitenhuis with a one-timer for his fifth goal of the season.
At the 17:15 mark, Pleskach tied the game. The puck was loose to the side of the crease. Buitenhuis dove onto the loose puck and it looked like there would be a stoppage, but Carson Denomie was able to knocked the puck loose into the crease where Pleskach tucked it home to tie the score at two.
At 5:21, Tulsa completed the comeback with the game-winner. Clarke had the puck behind his own net, not exactly sure where to go with it. That allowed Derrick McCormick to move in, take the puck from Clarke and pass it in front to DaSilva, who drilled it over the shoulder of Buitenhuis to give Tulsa the 3-2 victory.
Mannella finished with 36 saves. Buitenhuis stopped 42 shots.
By Robert Pannier