IceMen Edged by Oilers in Evansville Finale

(6,652 attend final IceMen home game at Ford Center, as Evansville is topped by Tulsa.)

  

Records:  Evansville: 27-32-7-2; Tulsa: 33-30-3-2

Goalies:  TUL – Olkinuora (W), 10-9-1-1, 21 saves, 2 GA

EVN – Greenham (L), 11-8-2-1, 18 saves, 3 GA

Scoring:

1^st Period:  1. TUL – Pleskach 21 (Brewer, Lalancette, 3:23); 2. EVN – Harrison 6 (unassisted, 8:01)

2^nd Period:  3. TUL – Pleskach 22 (Lalancette, 12:15); 4. TUL – Brewer 24 (PP, Kroshus, Brisebois, 15:47)

3^rd Period:  5. EVN – Turgeon 1 (Moon, Wideman, 7:00)

EVANSVILLE, IN – The IceMen finished their eight seasons in Evansville on Saturday in front of 6,652 fans in the home finale, a 3-2 loss to the Tulsa Oilers at the Ford Center. Fans stayed after the game to give the players a long ovation and take pictures on the ice, while sharing memories from the past eight seasons.

The Oilers struck first, when former IceMen forward Adam Pleskach tipped a centering pass from Phil Brewer past Evansville goaltender Scott Greenham. The IceMen tied the game at 8:01, when Andrew Harrison intercepted a pass and backhanded a shot past Tulsa goalie Jussi Olkinuora from the right circle to tie the score at 1-1. Evansville outshot Tulsa 10-3 in the opening frame.

Pleskach picked up his second goal of the night to give the Oilers their first lead, when he fired a one timer from the right circle that deflected off of Greenham and into the net. Tulsa made it 3-1 on its first power play, when a shot from the point sailed over the IceMen net, ricocheted off the glass behind Greenham, and caromed back over the cage. Brewer shoveled the loose puck into the goal. Tulsa led by that score after two periods.

Evansville cut the Oilers lead to 3-2 in the third period, when Daniel Turgeon scored from the slot seven minutes in on the fifth IceMen power play. The two teams combined for just eight shots in the final period, as Tulsa hung on for the narrow victory. Olkinuora stopped 21 shots in the win, while Greenham made 18 saves in the loss.

The IceMen finish the regular season on the road, starting with a 5pm EST tilt Sunday at Fort Wayne against the Komets. Evansville then travels to Texas next week for games Wednesday, Friday and Saturday against the Allen Americans at 7:05pm each night.

REMAINING GAMES

Sun. 4/3 – Evansville at Fort Wayne (5pm EST) – Memorial Coliseum (Fort Wayne, IN)

Wed. 4/6 – Evansville at Allen (7:05pm) – Allen Events Center (Allen, TX)

Fri. 4/8 – Evansville at Allen (7:05pm) – Allen Events Center (Allen, TX)

Sat. 4/9 – Evansville at Allen (7:05pm) – Allen Events Center (Allen, TX)                  

FINAL JERSEY AUCTION

The final chance to bid on game-worn player jerseys will be in a live auction Monday, April 11 at 6pm at Beef O’ Brady’s in Newburgh. Following the team’s final three games in Allen, Texas on April 6, 8 and 9, all of the Evansville IceMen players will sign their jerseys for the winning bidders.

Visit us at www.evansvilleicemen.com, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter @EvvIceMen for more information about your hometown professional hockey team.