The Tulsa Oilers raced to a 3-0 lead and held off the Mississippi RiverKings in Central Hockey League play in Tulsa on Wednesday, March 3rd. 

The loss started a crucial four-game road trip off on the wrong foot, as the RiverKings now face the Allen Americans in a two-game series Friday and Saturday in suburban Dallas.  Both games will start at 7:30 PM. 

Tulsa took a 3-0 lead before the RiverKings could answer late in the first period of play. Adam Bartholomay, Dan Riedel, and Troy Riddle scored in the first 10:04 of the contest for the three-goal lead.

Riddle’s goal came shorthanded with the Oilers one-man short when the goal was scored.

However, the RiverKings did get a goal on the board in the final seconds of the initial period, scored by Glenn Detulleo. His ninth goal of the year came with assists to Matt Summers and Ryan Held with 33 seconds remaining in the period.

Tulsa was about to be called for a penalty when Detulleo’s goal occurred with an extra skater on the ice for goaltender Tim Boron.

Mississippi got within one goal in the second period on a goal from Stephen Margeson, assisted by Elias Godoy at 6:15 for a 3-2 deficit. Margeson, left unchecked near the goal crease, found an opening in the upper left corner of the net for the red-lighter.

However, Tulsa got two more goals in a one-minute span later in the period to regain their three-goal lead. The goals were scored by Tyler Butler and Jeff Gumaer to give Tulsa a 5-2 lead. Butler’s goal came on the power play and Gumaer scored on a deflection at 12:04. Butler's marker eventually became the game-winning goal in the contest. 

In the third period, Marty Standish gave the Oilers a 6-2 lead with an unassisted goal at 7:44. Mississippi continued to press the issue and scored with 2:15 remaining on a goal from Ryan Held to make the score 6-3. The goal was Held’s team-leading 27th of the season, assisted by defenseman Kevin Truelson. However, Mississippi did not score again in the contest, resulting in the final score.

Mississippi had a two-game winning streak stopped with the loss, which was Tulsa’s seventh of the season series. Mississippi falls to 27-22-7 and in fourth place in the CHL Northern Conference, but only one point ahead of fifth-place Missouri. Tulsa gets within two points of the Mavericks in sixth place in the conference standings with a record of 26-24-6.

Marco Emond (1-1-1) was the winning goaltender for Tulsa with 29 saves. Boron (6-7-2) took the loss with 31 saves for the RiverKings.

Mississippi failed to score in seven power play chances, while Tulsa scored once in three attempts and had one shorthanded goal scored.

Mississippi returns home to play the Texas Brahmas on Friday, March 12 at the DeSoto Civic Center, beginning at 7:05 PM. The Memphis Boy Choir will be featured and there will be a post-game skate on the ice for fans after the game.

March 13 is the date for the retirement of Don Parsons’ jersey number 13. A pre-game ceremony will take place prior to the game between the RiverKings and Bossier-Shreveport that will include a video presentation and the unveiling of the jersey banner from the DeSoto Civic Center rafters for the team’s all-time scoring leader.
Season tickets for next year’s excitement of RiverKings hockey are now on sale. For RiverKings ticket information, call 662-342-1755