OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – The Oklahoma Warriors, proud members of the North American Hockey League, defeated the El Paso Rhinos 6-1 on Saturday night, putting an end to a four-game losing skid.
The lone first period goal came from Olivier Laverdière backhanding a rebound created by Max Gagnon and Benjamin Bertrand, putting the Warriors ahead 1-0 at 4:01 of the first period.
Early in the second period, Denny Oh wired a shot from the top of the right circle for his first of the season, set up by Max Gagnon and Luke VanderRoest to make it 2-0 at 17:24. With no sign of the Warriors slowing down, Joey DeRosa capitalized on a tic-tac-toe play, created by Dallas Jackson and Adam Bauer, making it 3-0 at the 3:00 mark, rounding out the scoring for the middle frame.
Olivier Laverdière cashed in his second of the night, burying a rebound once again created by Max Gagnon and Benjamin Bertrand, making it 4-0 with 14:59 remaining in regulation. Luke VanderRoest joined the scoring fun, banging home a wrap-around cross-crease feed from Jeremy Sprung and Jackson Hone to make it 5-0 at 13:44. Aidan Bergner put El Paso on the board with a power-play tally at 6:06, with Jacob Solano and Mikey Tate picking up the helpers, spoiling Oklahoma’s shutout bid. Adam Bauer tacked on the last tally of the night, deflecting a shot from Nate Pearce and Owen Koller at 1:30, securing the 6-1 final.
Nathan St-Pierre stopped 26-of-27 shots in the Warriors win, earning his first of the season. Logan Hughes stopped 19-of-24 and Luke Brassil stopped 1-of-2 in the Rhinos efforts.
The Warriors return to action at home on October 16 for FFA & Kid’s Night as they take on the Lone Star Brahmas. Puck drop from Blazers Ice Centre is set for 7 p.m. CST. Tickets can be purchased at: https://www.okwarriors.com/tickets/
