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 | On the strength of five point efforts from Mitch Moroz and Cody Corbett, the Edmonton Oil Kings pulled off a first round sweep of Leon Draisaitl and the Prince Albert Raiders on Wednesday evening with a 6-2 win in the finale of their WHL Eastern Conference quarter-final series. The Oil Kings will now have a week off as they await their second round opponent. | | Edmonton - March 27, 2014 - As the Edmonton Oil Kings wrapped up a first-round sweep of the Prince Albert Raiders, Mitch Moroz and Cody Corbett got to play head janitor.
Moroz and Corbett each picked up two goals and three assists as Edmonton broke out the brooms and defeated the Raiders 6-2 Wednesday night in Prince Albert, sweeping the Raiders out of the playoffs in four straight games.
“You knew they were going to break out at some point in time … so good on them,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal. “They’re a big part of our hockey club. They’re a big part of our success.”
After picking up two assists in the first three games, Moroz was a force for the Oil Kings in front of the net, scoring on a pair of rebounds and playing a big role on the Edmonton power play, which finished the night 3-5 and scored on its first three chances. Corbett, held without a point in the first three games, picked up a pair of those goals with the man advantage, which went 5-12 in the series against Prince Albert after clicking at 19.6 percent in the regular season, 17th in the WHL.
“We talked about getting pucks to the net and being simple, just getting a screen on Cheveldave. He’s a good goalie, but when he doesn’t see the puck, it’s going to go in,” Moroz explained. “Corbs was getting shots through, (Dysin Mayo) was getting shots through. All our D were doing a good job.”
“We didn’t try to do anything fancy,” Corbett agreed.
“Unbelievable screens by Henrik and Mitch on my two goals. … I’m just giving guys the puck and they’re finding ways to get it in the back of the net.”
Tyler Robertson and Curtis Lazar also scored for the Oil Kings, both picking up their second goals of the post season. Lazar also chipped in an assist, while Henrik Samuelsson had three helpers.
“We talked about work them in waves and eventually we’re going to crest and we’re just going to explode for some goals, and that’s what happened out there,” Moroz said.
Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots to earn the win in the Edmonton net, while Cole Cheveldave made 35 saves for the Raiders as Edmonton outshot them 41-27.
Reid Gardiner and Craig Leverton scored for Prince Albert, who were swept out in the first round for the second year in a row, but played the Oil Kings much tougher than a 4-0 series would appear.
“PA was a great opponent,” Laxdal said. “They played hard. It was a lot closer than a 4-0 series; I thought the first three games could have went either way.”
The Oil Kings will now have a week off as they await their second round opponent. The second round schedule will be announced at a later date.
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