KNIGHTS DOWN OIL KINGS

Press Release

OIL KINGS DESTINED FOR TIEBREAKER – The Edmonton Oil Kings dropped a 4-1 decision to the London Knights in round robin action at the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament on Monday in Shawinigan, QC.

Ryan Rupert and Bo Horvat scored first-period goals for the Knights, who improve to 2-1 in round robin play to guarantee themselves at least a birth in the semi final on Friday night.

Gregg McKegg and Austin Watson – with his second of the tournament – also scored for the Knights, who held the Oil Kings to just 21 shots on net and an 0-for-6 mark on the power play.

Keegan Lowe got his first goal of the tournament for the WHL champion Oil Kings, who suffer their second straight defeat and fall to 1-2 as they wrap up their round robin schedule. The Oil Kings now head to a tiebreaker on Thursday for the second semi-final berth on Friday.

Michael Houser, the OHL Goaltender and Player of the Year, turned aside 20 of 21 shots to post the win for the Knights, who also defeated the Saint John Sea Dogs in round robin play.

Laurent Brossoit stopped 24 of 27 shots he faced in a losing cause for Edmonton, which has been outscored 9-3 over the last two days.

The 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup round robin schedule wraps up Wednesday night with the QMJHL champion Sea Dogs taking on the tournament host Shawinigan Cataractes. Both teams have a win and a loss in round robin play.

Should Saint John win on Wednesday, the Knights would advance directly to Sunday’s championship game as they own the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Shawinigan wins, they would advance to Sunday’s final, having the tiebreaker over London.

The Oil Kings will face the loser of Wednesday’s round robin finale in Thursday’s tiebreaker game.

(Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)