Tulsa holds off Thunder in season-opener

The Thunder season-opener on Saturday was like another practice, but with 12,000 attendees.

Wichita’s players haven’t spent much on-ice time together because of this week’s roster uncertainty, with several players being assigned to the Thunder by NHL parent club Ottawa over the past few days.

The Thunder lacked cohesion in a 4-3 loss to Tulsa at Intrust Bank Arena, but displayed traits that may make for a quick learning curve. Aside from a sloppy second period, Wichita played with energy and used its speed, nearly coming back from a pair of two-goal deficits in the third period.

First-year coach Malcolm Cameron tinkered with line combinations and defensive pairings throughout the game and came away undeterred by the outcome.

“I kind of liken this to an expansion team, which we really are,” Cameron said. “Even though we’ve got three players back from last year, they didn’t play for me. And none of them have ever played together. Right now we’re facing a lot of teams with half, or in some cases more than half, of their players back and the same coach.

“Our room for growth is really good.”

The crowd – officially 12,331 – was exuberant for a first-period goal by newcomer Alex Krushelnyski, one of the highlights of the Thunder offseason after he scored 60 points in 68 games for Utah last season.

The enthusiasm remained after Tulsa tied it in midway through the first period but waned as the Thunder also dropped off in the second period. Tulsa scored two goals and went ahead 3-1 while outshooting the Thunder 15-7 in the period. Wichita was hampered by turnovers that led to relatively easy goals.

“The first period was real good. The second period we laid an egg,” Cameron said. “There’s no question, we laid an egg. There was no effort, there was no execution, there was no grit and there was no battle. I don’t accept that. I don’t care about cohesion or whether you’re bringing 20 guys in from the prison league, you expect them to compete each and every night.”

The Thunder scored about halfway through the third period to cut Tulsa’s lead to one goal, but the Oilers answered almost immediately. With 90 seconds to go, Wichita scored again but failed to score with a 6-on-5 advantage in the final minute.

Still, those final seconds capped the most productive stretch of the Thunder’s night. Wichita had 17 shots in the third period, matching its total from the first two, and kept the pressure on even when its rally hopes appeared dim.

“That’s great to see,” Thunder defenseman Nick Trecapelli said. “This early in the season, when you see that character, the boys had to battle back, I thought that was awesome. After we got the third goal, we had a couple chances to tie it up. It’s great to see the heart and the determination that this group has.”

Cameron has previously guided two ECHL teams to 40-point turnarounds, and the affiliation with Ottawa signals progress if not immediate improvement. The Thunder missed the playoffs three straight seasons under coach Kevin McClelland, and Saturday’s crowd may be an indication of the fan base’s clamoring for a winner.

Cameron’s message to the disillusioned is to ignore a solitary outcome.

“Sometimes winning a game, and you don’t win it the right way, brings bad habits,” Cameron said. “I know we’re going to be super hungry the next game to make sure we make a statement and be better than we were tonight. I look at the big picture here. I’d rather make small incremental steps and grow as a team.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 11:01 PM with the headline "Tulsa holds off Thunder in season-opener."