Thunder turns up attack, but falls to Tulsa in shootout

The Thunder played its best offensive hockey game in weeks on Saturday night, a fact that doesn’t appear at face value.

Wichita frequently controlled possession and was in position to win during crunch time – multiple crunch times, actually – but Tulsa goaltender Kevin Carr kept the Thunder from escaping some unfavorable recent history.

Carr stopped 34 shots in regulation, three in overtime and two more in a shootout before Tulsa prevailed 2-1 at Intrust Bank Arena. Brandon Wong and Adam Pleskach scored in the shootout for Tulsa.

The Thunder’s 35 shots didn’t enable it to score more than two regulation goals for the first time in more than a month, and Wichita settled for one point in the standings to show for a rare aggressive performance.

Tulsa and the Thunder have played past regulation four times in seven meetings this season, splitting those games. The teams played to a shootout on Dec. 19 in Tulsa, a 3-2 Oilers victory.

The end of Saturday’s third period was filled with uncertainty. The Thunder faced a 5-on-3 that was quickly derailed by a Tulsa penalty that gave the Oilers a one-man advantage for about a minute.

When that ended, Wichita had about 20 seconds of its own power play, but as was Saturday’s theme, neither team capitalized on a chance to earn the tiebreaker. The teams were a combined 0 for 13 on the power play, though superior goaltending played a role in that futility.

The Thunder’s power-play unit ranks last in the 28-team ECHL

“We had our opportunities tonight,” Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said. “If we get one power-play goal, we win the hockey game. Our power play has been atrocious this year.”

During much of the third period, the Thunder played as if it was on the power play, even when the teams were at even strength. After a second-period goal by Michael Neal tied it 1-1, Wichita remained in attack mode to start the third, keeping the puck in its offensive zone with Tulsa doing little to combat the barrage.

But the tie wasn’t broken then, nor was it broken during overtime, when Wichita drew a penalty and gained a 4-on-3 advantage. That power play induced the wrong kind of anxiety, when a Thunder turnover produced a Tulsa breakaway that goalie David Shantz stopped.

The Thunder played the fast-paced style it had been hesitant to utilize most of the season and had sometimes worked against it, like when it was shutout despite taking 44 shots against Allen on Nov. 20.

But the tempo often brought out the best in Wichita, which maintained the physical play it often uses to slow the game. Like that game against Allen last month, though, strong opposition goaltending and meager special teams efforts kept the Thunder from victory.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Thunder turns up attack, but falls to Tulsa in shootout."