Prior to the game, the Stingers 37 year old goaltender Jacques Caron was
named WHA Player of the Week. While in other Stingers news, Bryan Maxwell was recalled
from the Springfield Indians. He was sent down to the minors because of lack of
production. So the club sent him down to try and get his act together and lose some weight
in the meantime. The Stingers tried to trade him but no teams were biting. Maxwell trimmed
down by 20 pounds and was tearing it up in the AHL and after the trade of Dave Inkpen to
the Racers, the Stingers needed a sixth defenseman.
The Oilers took an early lead at 4:58
in the first period when Tom Simpson came off the right wing for a nice pass from former
Stinger Byran Campbell. Simpson then beat Norm LaPointe for the score. Cincinnati finally
tied things up at 18:12 when Dale Smedsmo picked off an Edmonton pass and nailed a shot
towards the Oilers net. The shot was blocked by Edmonton's goalie Louis Lacasseur but was
deflected in by Dennis Sobchuk. Then rookie defenseman Barry Melrose, who hadn't seen much
playing time, stole the puck from center ice, skated in and blasted a shot that deflected
off an Oiler and into Edmonton's net.
In the second period Rusty Patenaude
tied the game up after beating Caron with a slap shot from the left circle. But Cincinnati
answered with three straight goals. Claude "the Rocket" Larose scored the first
and second Stingers goal of the period. The first came when Larose was sent off by
teammate Greg Carroll and he moved in on the Oilers goalie Lavasseur without being
touched. He then faked the goalie and scored with a backhanded shot at 7:58. His second
goal came less then a minute later when he took a pass from Carroll and flipped in a high
shot for the score. Cincinnati's Dennis Abgrall scored the third goal of the period after
taking a nice pass from teammate Rich Leduc and then slipping a shot into the Oilers goal.
Former Stinger Bryan Campbell scored at 16:48 from right in front of the Stingers net
after a pass from teammate Simpson.
In the third period the Oilers pulled
within one goal after Bill Flett took a pass from teammate Brett Callighen and skated
through the Stingers defense. He then beat Charon with a backhanded shot. But Cincinnati
added two more goals to insure the club a much needed road victory. The goals came from
Blaine Stoughton and Billy Steele. Stoughtons goal came on a three-on-one breakaway. While
Steeles goal came after a high shot into the net.
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