Despite the Stingers playing with much enthusiasm, the experienced Oilers
went on to hand Cincinnati their first franchise loss even though the Stingers out shot
Edmonton 37-27. Cincinnati dominated the first moments of the game by taking six shots at
Oilers goalie Dave Dryden. Edmonton had such trouble clearing the puck from their own ice
that they finally began flipping the puck over the wall into spectators. The Oilers head
coach Clare Drake tried anything to get his team going, so he pulled Dryden and inserted a
fourth forward. It didn't work.
The Stingers Dale Smedsmo came close to
scoring in the first period but came up shy. The left winger managed to carry the puck
right into the Oliers crease where he almost knocked it in with his skate. Had it not been
for Dryden falling on the puck, Smedsmo's effort most likely would have paid off. In the
final minute of the period, the Oilers defensman Barry Long was called for hooking on
Jacques Locas after a two-on-one Stingers breakaway. The penalty gave Cincinnati a one man
advantage. Despite the Stingers managing to keep the puck in the offense zone for the
remainder of the period, they failed to score.
In the second period left wing Gary Venerusso took a pass from Rick Dudley and nailed one in the Oilers net
from a hard angle about 10 feet on the left side at 4:58. Ron Plumb was called for
tripping at 9:36 so the Oilers Ken Baird took advantage of the Stingers short-handed
situation by tying the game up at 11:56. The Oilers scored again late in the second period
when right winger Blair MacDonald flipped the puck in after a shot by teammate Skip Krake
deflected off of Stingers goal tender Serge Aubrys chest protector.
In the third period Ken Baird scored his second goal of
the game at 10:56 to put the Oilers ahead 3-1. Cross checking was called on David Inkpen
at 12:18 which left the Stingers short-handed but the club came back 6 seconds later and
scored a goal. Bernie MacNeil delivered the puck into the Oilers net with the assist by
Ron Plumb. With another Oilers goal by Barry Long late in the final period, Cincinnati was
unable to hang on.
Also on this day:
- The Cincinnati Bengals win their 5th straight
game by defeating the Oakland Raiders 14-10. Click here for
game summary. |
