The Oil Capitals kicked off preseason with a tight game Tuesday night, and a blowout win on Wednesday night. They started off preseason Tuesday in Portage where they lost 4-3 in the 4th round of the shootout. The game was tight throughout the night but the Oil Capitals came out on top on the shot clock with 30, while the Terriers trailed at 24. Wednesday they headed out to Winkler where they came home with a 9-2 over the Flyers. Virden came out with a commanding lead on the shot clock with 35 shots while Winkler only had 24.
Tuesday night started out with a slow first period with Portage opening the scoring in the second period. Joey Bielik opened the scoring for the Oil Capitals shortly before the end of the second period. Portage scored again just 1:27 into the third period but the Oil Caps came back with 2 goals, one scored by Colin Cook and the other by Roux Bazin. Portage fought back scoring one late in the third forcing the overtime period. Overtime went scoreless so they moved on to a sudden death shootout. The Oil Caps opened with a goal in the first round by Branden Huminuk, but Portage fought back scoring in the second round, and then the fourth round to end the game.
On Wednesday night Winkler opened the scoring in the first period but the Oil Capitals came back just over a minute with Tyler Thoendel scoring his first of preseason. The Oil Capitals scored 2 more after to close out the first period, the second goal being scored by Anton Uruski and the second by returning Oil Cap Brett Paddock. Virden got on a scoring spree through the second period scoring 4 goals in the period. The fourth goal was scored by Hunter Wallace on the power play, with the fifth scored by returning player Parker Brakebill. Roux Bazin scored the sixth goal for the Oil Caps putting up his second goal of preseason. Parker Brakebill scored his second of the night to put up a seventh goal for the Oil Caps. Winkler put up another goal on the power play in the third, but the Oil Capitals followed them up with 2 goals. Brett Paddock scored his second of the game on the power play to put up the Oil Caps eighth goal. Parker Brakebill earned a hat trick by scoring his third of the night with just 32 seconds left in the game.
In regards to the players Coach Tyson Ramsey had good things to say about the first 2 games of the season. Ramsey had this to say after Wednesday nights big win, “I have been really impressed with our group the last 2 nights. Obviously they were largely different lineups personnel wise, but both groups competed hard at both ends of the ice and showed really good team speed. The kids that played in both games showed improvement from one night to the next and I was happy with the efforts of our signed players as well as the returning guys that played tonight.” He went on to add this about the future of the organization, “We are very excited about the young players we have in our organization! We look forward to getting the rest of the returning guys into the lineup this weekend in Wayway and working away towards what our roster will look like for the season opener in Selkirk.”
Next Preseason Game : Saturday in Wayway against the Wolverines
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