Garrett Ladd Delivers OT Game-Winner in Oilers 2-1 Win
Tuesday night’s outstanding goaltender battle pitted Jonah Imoo and Scott Greenham against one another, and both goalies were absolutely brilliant, keeping this a 1-1 battle into overtime. That is when Garrett Ladd earned the Tulsa Oilers the victory with a breakaway goal that downed the Wichita Thunder, 2-1.
The Tulsa Oilers would take the lead at the 3:47 mark of the first period. Shawn Bates was able to gain control of the puck in the Wichita end and fired a slap shot from the slot that beat Greenham to make it 1-0. That was his 17th goal of the year.
It would stay that way until the 12:23 mark when the Thunder would tie the score. David Friedmann gained control of a loose puck in the neutral zone and put on a burst of speed to create a breakaway. His shot beat Jonah Imoo for his 13th goal of the year and the first period would end with the two teams tied at one.
Tulsa did have the chance to retake the lead with a little under three minutes left in the first. Darcy Murphy received a pass in the slot and was wide open in front of the net. However, Greenham came up huge to make the save and smother the puck to keep the Oilers out of the net.
In the second, Tulsa had the chance to retake the lead again. Just 1:19 into the period the pass came out to Adam Pleskach who had a point blank shot, but Greenham reached out the glove hand like a cat to snag the puck.
The game went to the third period where the Thunder would get two chances to take the lead. At the 1:56 mark, Maxime St-Cyr fired a wrist shot that the referee ruled went into the net just under the crossbar. However, after talking with the linesman he overturned his call and the game remained tied.
A little over 13 minutes into the period, Wichita had a 2-on-1 break. Ryan Rupert swept across the goal and made a great move before shooting, but Jonah Imoo made a great save to keep it tied.
The game went to overtime, but ended just 1:05 into the extra frame. Chris Joyaux gained control in his own end and passed to a streaking Garrett Ladd in the neutral zone. He entered on a breakaway and beat Greenham with a wrist shot for the game-winner.
Jonah Imoo saved 28-shots for the Tulsa Oilers in the victory. Scott Greenham made 30-saves for the Wichita Thunder.
The Thunder now head to Allen to play the Americans tomorrow. The puck drops at 7:05.
By Robert Pannier
