Oil Kings look to regroup against Hawks 



Edmonton's Oilers and the Portland Winterhawks are an old rivalry that is reaching fever pitch again.  — Sportikos, refWrite Sports columnist and reviewer

 DEREK VAN DIEST, EDMONTON SUN
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FOK
Edmonton's Keegan Lowe tussles with Portland's Joseph Morrow during the second period of the Oil Kings' 5-1 loss against the Winterhawks at Rexall Place on Friday. Codie McLachlan, Edmonton Sun
PORTLAND, OREGON - The Edmonton Oil Kings aren’t used to losing.
Prior to dropping Game 2 of the Western Hockey League final Friday to the Portland Winterhawks, the Oil Kings had just one loss in the post-season.
That defeat to the Moose Jaw Warriors was monumental in its own right, as it snapped the local junior club’s 22-game winning streak.
The Oil Kings were able to bounce back after that defeat by putting the Warriors out of their misery. They hope to rebound again Sunday and wrestle home-ice advantage back from Winterhawks.
“When you lose in a championship series, it puts a lot more pressure on you,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal. “Now that loss has more meaning to it, because it’s one loss in the series and if you lose three more, then you’re out.”
This is the only time in the playoffs that the Oil Kings have been under any real pressure. They cruised through the first two rounds and were up 3-0 on the Warriors before having their winning streak snapped.
Heading into the next two games in Portland, the Oil Kings are looking at a 3-1 series deficit if they can’t win at least one game in the Winterhawks’ barn.
“It’s a five-game series now and Portland has home ice,” said Laxdal. “We have try and come in here and win Game 1 of the series here in Portland.”
In order to do that, the Oil Kings need to do a better job of taking care of the puck. In Friday’s 5-1 loss they coughed up more pucks than cats do fur balls.
A big part of the reason was due to the Winterhawks agressive forecheck, which had the Oil Kings defence under pressure from the onset.
“They’re pushing on our defencemen pretty hard and we’re not getting a lot of crisp passes out of the zone,” said Laxdal. “We have to get back on pucks quicker and make that first read, move the puck, let our forwards do the work through the neutral zone. What’s happening is our forwards are coming back and then turning up ice and getting passes that are bouncing or are in their skates where we really can’t pick them up and translate that into a speed game in the neutral zone.”
For their part, the Winterhawks did well to come up with strong effort despite the absence of leading scorer Ty Rattie.
The second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues was sent into the boards awkwardly by Oil Kings winger Mitchell Moroz early in the opening game of the series and was knocked out of the contest. Rattie missed Friday’s encounter, but could be back Sunday.
“He seems to be doing better,” said Winterhawks head coach and general manager Mike Johnston. “I thought he was pretty good (Friday) and seems to be doing fine (Saturday). Our trainers are going to take a look at him in the morning, he might skate in the morning and we’ll see how he is after that, that’ll be the key thing.”
Rattie leads the league in playoff scoring this year with 17 goals and 13 assists in 16 games.
But even without the Airdrie product in the lineup, the Winterhawks are a pretty formidable foe as Calgary Flames prospect Sven Bartschi and Winnipeg product Brendan Leipsic picked up the slack in the Game 2 victory.
“I was happy with the response,” said Johnston. “You play the team the night before and you don’t really know the team that well, so you’re forced to make a couple of adjustments. I thought our team was bang-on on how they had to play. But I think it’s a series where both teams are going to make adjustments from game to game.
“We know it’s going to be a tough series. Certainly when you go on the road, we’re expecting to get a split in the games, but at the same time, we know they feel the same way and no matter where we’re playing Edmonton, they’re going to be tough games.”
derek.vandiest@sunmedia.ca
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