Splitting the weekend series with the Louisiana Drillers through two games, the Oklahoma City Blazers returned to the ice on Sunday in search of the series advantage. With Mid-Cities and the Texas RoadRunners splitting as well this weekend, first place in the South Division sat on the line as well.
After giving up four straight goals to close out the game Saturday, the Blazers kicked off Sunday’s contest with a strong statement on the scoresheet. Noah Henslee kicked off the scoring at 11:06 of the 1st period, while Michael Onda would add a pair as well, giving the Blazers a 3-0 lead after the 1st.
The top line of Henslee, Onda, and Artem Korolev stayed hot throughout the contest, as Korolev would pick up yet another goal for the Blazers to begin the 2nd period, and putting OKC up 4-0.
Louisiana picked up their lone goal of the game in the 2nd period, as Brendan Krawczyk picked up his second of the season to make it a 4-1 game. From that point on though, it was all Oklahoma City, as Korolev would add one more goal in the 2nd, and close things out with the hat trick in period number three, giving the Blazers their second win of the season.
Korolev’s hat trick becomes the first for the Blazers in the NA3HL era. The Blazers’ first line also combined for 15 points on the scoresheet, as Henslee, Korolev, and Onda all had five points each in the contest.
Jarret Perino picked up the win as he made his debut in the Oklahoma City net, making 24 saves on 25 shots, and improving to 1-0-0 this season. Kyle Karoleski returned to the Louisiana net as he picked up the loss, falling to 0-1-1 this season. Karoleski stopped 20 OKC shots, before Jacob King came on in relief in the 3rd period, stopping 11-of-12.
