BLAINE, Minn. – The Oklahoma Warriors, proud members of the North American Hockey League, had their third-period rally halted on Saturday, falling 5-3 to the Pueblo Peppers.
At 9:13 in the first period, Remington Chisolm capitalized on a breakaway goal, from a blueline turnover created by Landen Scherber, putting the Peppers ahead 1-0. After a fluky bounce off of a stray stick in the slot, Jonathon Pylypuik made it 2-0 with Jake McIntosh picking up the helper at 5:36, closing out the scoring in the first.
Luke VanderRoest put Oklahoma on the board at 16:12, burying a rebound from Joey DeRosa and Adam Bauer, making it 2-1. Marcus Jackson responded late into the middle frame, banging home the rebound set up by Michael Mathison, rounding out the second period scoring 3-1.
Blake Schultz opened the third period scoring at 13:32, with Michael Mathison and Colton Whiterabbit grabbing the helpers, making it 4-1. Max Gagnon responded quickly at 11:25, winning a puck battle at the last second, making it 4-2. Max Gagnon zipped through the Pueblo defenders at 6:03, logging his second tally of the game and period, bringing the Warriors within one to make it 4-3. A miscue led to Oklahoma going to the penalty kill for “Too Many Men,” leading to Jake McIntosh cashing in an empty-net power-play goal with 27 seconds remaining, securing the 5-3 final.
Nathan St-Pierre stopped 32-of-37 for the Warriors’ in their efforts, and Max Kogler stopped 21-of-24 in the Peppers’ win.
Oklahoma returns home on Oct. 2 to take on the El Paso Rhinos for Pink the Rink weekend. Puck drop from Blazers Ice Centre is set for 7 p.m. CST. Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.okwarriors.com/tickets/
