Rookie goaltender Shane Madolora has been one of the few bright spots for the Tulsa Oilers during the 2012-13 season. Madolora guarded his net with ferocity Tuesday night, leading Tulsa past the Arizona Sundogs 4-2. Madolora has .903 save percentage, but has struggled to find wins as the Oilers have mustered up only 2.78 goals per game this season, which is second-to-last in the Central Hockey League. Though Arizona got off six more shots than Tulsa, Madolora got all the goal support he needed Tuesday night. Some credit also goes to the Oilers defense, which helped hold Chad Nehring, the leading goal-scorer in the CHL, without a point. With less than a minute left in the opener period, International Falls, Minnesota native Ben Gordon opened the scoring as the puck caromed off the wall onto his stick and into the net, as he got it past Arizona goalie David Brown. Tulsa forward Michel Beausoleil made it 2-0 with 5:26 left in the second period. The powerplay goal was made possible when Sean Erickson dove to block a Sundogs shot without his stick. The block set up Jeff Buvinow, who sent a shot off Brown. The puck bounced of Brown's glove into Beausoleil's wheelhouse right in front of the net. The Oilers scored the first two goals of the final period, the first a blast from Ryan Barlock, and the second a tap-in by Kyle O'Kane from Kyle Mariani with 11:26 remaining. It was O'Kane's first goal for Tulsa in his fourth game for the squad. The two Sundogs goals came when the game was all but decided. Kevin Petovello scored as Madolora tumbled into the back of the net and Jason Morgan got on the board with 59 seconds left as the puck flew into the air and over Madolora's head to make it 4-2. Forward Ryan Menei had two assists on the night, to give him 30 on the season, which leads the team. The win was the first for the Oilers at the BOK Center since a Dec. 28 5-3 victory over Quad City. It ended a five-game home losing streak for the Oilers, the longest home losing streak of the Bruce Ramsay era. The win moved Tulsa to 7-10-3 at home and 12-26-3 overall. The Oilers next contest will come Jan. 26 at Missouri where they will attempt to win back-to-back games for just the third time this season.
