PREVIEW: IDAHO STEELHEADS (19-11-5) VS. TULSA OILERS (14-18-3)

SATURDAY, JAN. 4, 2020 | 6:05 P.M. MTBOK CENTER | TULSA, OKRADIO: 1350 KTIK-AM | STREAM: ECHL TV

Tonight’s Game: The Steelheads play the midway game of their three-game set against the Tulsa Oilers from the BOK Center.

Head-To-Head: The Steelheads have dropped both meetings against the Oilers this season with both coming on the road. This is the second of seven games between the Steelheads and Oilers with three games remaining at the BOK Center. The eight-game season series will conclude this month, and so far the Oilers need just two wins in six games to at least split the set. The Steelheads are 15-8-2 against the Oilers all-time in the regular season as well as 9-4-1 at the BOK Center.

Last Night: The Steelheads dropped their first game of the New Year in a 4-1 loss to the Oilers on Friday night from BOK Center. Oilers forward Danny Moynihan (5:37 1st) opened the scoring early in the contest to take the lead before Steelheads defenseman Jeff King (15:31 1st) leveled the game, 1-1. The Oilers then scored three-unanswered goals through the rest of the game with two tallies in the middle frame thanks to forward Cory Ward (1:26 2nd) and forward Jack Nevins (10:04 2nd) to double the lead at 3-1. Oilers forward J.J. Piccinich (EN, 18:41 3rd) finished off the scoreline in the 4-1 result. Devin Williams (10-7-1) halted 27 of 28 shots in the win, while Tomas Sholl (14-5-4) stopped 27 of 30 shots in the loss.

Turn The Page: The Steelheads dropped a three-game win streak when beginning a new calendar year in their loss last night to the Oilers. The last loss to open a year came on Jan. 1, 2016 in a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Eagles as part of three-straight games head-to-head. The team has won four of their last six games leading off a New Year, but much of their success has come in recent years. Overall, the Steelheads are 7-5-0-1 since the 2007 calendar year in this situation but are 4-3-0-1 prior to the 2013-14 season. The Steelheads are now 1-1-0-0 against the Oilers when playing on the first game on the calendar with both games at the BOK Center.

Kill Count: Despite only having two opportunities, the Steelheads penalty kill has been consistently strong over the last three weeks thanks to another perfect game last night. The Steelheads extended their perfect streak on the road to five-straight games (21 attempts) since November 17 while also killing off all attempts in four of their last five games (22-24, 91.7%) since not having an attempt on December 18 in Norfolk. The penalty kill has been perfect in 19 of 34 games (55.9%) with attempts this season and sits 12th (17.4%) in the ECHL while also being tied for sixth (85.3%) on the road.

King Marco: The Steelheads saw contributions from forward Marc-Olivier Roy and defenseman Jeff King during last night’s loss, factoring in for two of the three points earned. Roy has been a consistent scoring product this year and has three points (1-2–3) over his last two games while also posting points in 11 of the team’s last 17 games (6-10–16) since November 27. King notched his first goal since October 19, breaking a 14-game scoreless drought and also has three points (1-2–3) over his last two contests while notching points in three of four games (1-3–4). Roy leads the Steelheads in assists (25) and points (32) through 33 games played, and King owns nine points (2-7–9) in 19 contests.

Shoot Your Shot: The Tulsa Oilers seem to have a much easier time in getting shots on net at home compared to on the road as evidenced in two games against the Steelheads this season. The Oilers have outshot the Steelheads in both games, and heading into their 21st home game of the season have actually led in shots 17 out of 20 games (85.0%). In their 15 road games this season, the Oilers have led in shots 11 times (73.3%), continuing the trend at a slower pace than in the BOK Center. The Oilers are 13-13-2-0 when leading in shots this season and are 11-9-0-0 overall at home. They lead the ECHL in shot attempts per game (36.80).

Nev-er Back Down: The Oilers acquired former Steelheads forward Jack Nevins ahead of last night’s game, and the newest addition tallied the first of two insurance goals during their win. The Stittsville, Ont. native is in his sixth professional season and has developed the reputation for physical play, posting 392 penalty minutes through 198 ECHL games. He played with the Steelheads for 15 games over parts of two seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19, adding four points in that span. In his ECHL career, Nevins owns 76 points (33-43–76) and has seven more shots than penalty minutes. He joins the Oilers with the team’s second-most penalty minutes (45 PIMs), only trailing defenseman Mike McKee (76 PIMs) for the team lead.

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS:

Next Game: The Steelheads finish their three-game, three-day set against the Oilers on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 3:05 p.m. MT. Coverage begins at 2:45 p.m. on 1350 KTIK-AM "The Ticket" and ECHL.tv.