Oil Kings’ Holinka hammers Blades with hat trick

Edmonton evens series with Saskatoon 2-2

The Oil Kings celebrate a hat trick goal from Miroslav Holinka (#92).

Miroslav Holinka is becoming the Edmonton Oil Kings version of Connor McDavid.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old import centre showed why he has become one of the WHL’s superstars. In Game 4 of a best-of-seven first round playoff series against the host Saskatoon Blades, Holinka fired home a hat trick and was a plus-two in the plus- minus department to power the Oil Kings to a 5-2 victory to disappoint most of the 4,834 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

With the win, the Oil Kings even the series at 2-2. Game 5 is set for Friday at 6 p.m. local time for Rogers Place in Edmonton. Game 6 is slated for Sunday at 2 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre.

Miroslav Holinka was on fire for the Oil Kings on Wednesday night.

Holinka, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, came into Wednesday’s contest having posted two goals, two assists and an even rating in the previous three games of the set. He nearly doubled his offensive output for the post-season in one contest.

Oil Kings head coach Jason Smith said Holinka gave his squad the boost they needed to even the series with the Blades.

“He is an experienced player in this league,” said Smith. “He is a 20-year-old guy, and he has expectations to play well and lead our team.

“His game tonight was outstanding, and it was a 200-foot game. He played well on both ends. He was out on the penalty kill and did a real good job.

Lukas Sawchyn had one goal and two assists for the Oil Kings.

“That is what you need from good players is good effort.”

Thanks to his hat trick performance, Holinka’s line had a great night. On Wednesday, Holinka for most of the contest centred a forward unit that contained rookie left-winger Kayden Stroeder, who turned 17-years-old in early March, and star veteran right-winger Lukas Sawchyn.

Stroeder finished with two assists and a plus-one rating, while Sawchyn posted one goal, two assists and a plus-two rating.

“They’re really skilled players,” said Blades head coach Dan DaSilva. “They are some of the best players in the league.

Kayden Stroeder had a pair of assists for the Oil Kings.

“They can make you look silly, if you’re not playing the body on them. I thought tonight we made it too easy on them and kind of let them off the hook a little bit. We’ve been doing a really good job on those guys.

“They are high-end players. They are going to have their nights, (and) they are going to get their looks. We’ve got to try and do a better job of limiting those looks and being more physical on them.”

At the 7:34 mark of the first period, Holinka opened the game’s scoring firing home a shot from the left slot to give the visitors a 1-0 edge.

With 5:39 remaining in the first, Blades 18-year-old centre Kazden Mathies had a loose puck deflect off his skate from a rebound in front of the Edmonton net to even the score at 1-1.

Before the first came to an end, the Oil Kings would go back in front by scoring on the power play with 1:16 remaining in the stanza on a highlight reel effort by Holinka. Holinka skated through the Blades defence up through the centre of the Saskatoon zone and put home a close in backhand shot for his second of the contest to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Kazden Mathies had the Blades first goal on Wednesday.

Sawchyn said it is a blast to play on the same line as Holinka, especially when the Czech product makes plays like he does like on his second tally on Wednesday.

“He (Holinka) is a great player and super smart,” said Sawchyn. “He can pretty much throw from anywhere on the ice, so it is fun giving him the puck.”

At the 4:29 mark of the second, the Oil Kings top line rushed into the Saskatoon zone, and Stroeder dropped a smart pass to veteran star right-winger Lukas Sawchyn. Sawchyn fired a perfect snipe to the top right corner of the Saskatoon net to push the Oil Kings lead to 3-1.

The Blades would answer back with 4:27 remaining in the second with a goal from star right-winger Hunter Laing. Laing tapped home a puck at the left side of the Edmonton net after receiving a cross crease feed from veteran defenceman Tristen Doyle to cut the Oil Kings lead to 3-2.

Hunter Laing had the Blades second goal on Wednesday.

Just when the Blades seemed to have the momentum, Holinka would complete his hat trick at an absolute dagger of a time. After catching the Blades on a bad line change, Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett received a cross ice pass at the left side of the Saskatoon net from Sawchyn.

Blades star netminder Evan Gardner made a sprawling save but the puck rebounded out to Holinka at the right side of the Saskatoon net. Holinka popped home his hat trick tally with 21.5 seconds remaining in the frame to make the Oil Kings advantage sit at 4-2.

Mathies said his squad has to do a better job at playing against Holinka’s line.

“I think we have to be hard on them and not allow them to make just like the cute plays,” said Mathies. “We have to play physical and close the gap on them as quick as you can, so they can’t make those plays.”

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Blades.

The Blades made a big push in the third outshooting the Oil Kings 14-7 in the frame, but they weren’t able to put any pucks past Oil Kings veteran netminder Ethan Simcoe. Saskatoon even got to work on a four-minute power play as Oil Kings centre Andrew O’Neill picked up a double-minor for slew-footing. That infraction will be automatically reviewed by the WHL Office for a possible suspension.

Oil Kings import right-winger Adam Jecho scored into an empty net with 2.2 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-2 final score in favour of the visitors.

Tristen Doyle had a slick assist for the Blades.

Gardner turned away 23-of-27 shots to take the setback in net for the Blades. Ethan Simcoe stopped 31 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings. 

The Oil Kings are without 17-year-old rookie netminder Parker Snell with an undisclosed ailment. Associate player call up Elias Mitrikas, who is a 15-year-old who played for the North Shore Warriors Under-18 Prep Club, dressed as Edmonton’s backup netminder.

The Oil Kings finished third in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and fifth in the circuit’s overall regular season standings with a 45-18-3-2 mark. The Blades were sixth in the Eastern Conference and placed 10^th in the overall regular season standings with a 34-27-5-2 mark.

During the regular season, Saskatoon was a club that was consistently inconsistent. The Blades were able to go out and pick up victories against the top teams in the league and would turn around and lose to squads that missed the post-season and were at the bottom of the overall standings.

Landon Hanson sets to shoot in the offensive zone for the Oil Kings.

At the moment, the Blades have shown they can compete at the same level as the Oil Kings. DaSilva is confident in his group going into Game 5, and he believes his players will be better than they were in Game 4.

“I think that we lacked a little bit of bite in our game,” said DaSilva. “It was not the game that you’ve seen from our group through three games in the series.

“They are a good team, (and) we knew they were going to push back. They were going to have their best effort here tonight. They didn’t want to be going home down 3-1.

“It is a best of three series. Anything can happen. We feel comfortable playing in Roger’s Place.”

Smith said his Oil Kings didn’t expect the series against the Blades would be a short one. As the two clubs head into the deep waters of the series, Smith said his squad will just focus on the next game.

The Oil Kings celebrate their Game 4 win on Wednesday.

“I think we kind of talked about it from the start of the playoffs that it is a game by game reset,” said Smith. “You’ve got to be prepared to play hard games.

“It is going to be very competitive, and you’ve got to be emotionally and physically involved in it to wear through it.”

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Opportunistic Oil Kings give Raiders slip in 5-3 win

Miroslav Holinka (#92) soaks in scoring the winner for the Oil Kings.

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – The Edmonton Oil Kings proved that if you give them an inch they can take a mile.

On Saturday playing before a standing room crowd of 2,817 spectators at the 2,580 Art Hauser Centre, the Oil Kings, who were rated sixth in the CHL Top 10 Rankings release on Tuesday, took on the host Prince Albert Raiders, who were rated third in the CHL Top 10. The clash was viewed as a heavyweight showdown coming just past the midway point of the WHL regular season.

The Raiders outshot the Oil Kings 37-21 in the contest, but the visitors skated away with a 5-3 victory for their eighth win in a row, which brought an end to Prince Albert’s six game winning streak. 

Miroslav Holinka has points in 11 straight games.

With the victory, the Oil Kings improved to 29-7-3-1 to sit two points up on the Raiders, who fell to 28-6-4, for second overall in the Eastern Conference. The Raiders, who have two games in hand on the Oil Kings, still sit comfortably in first place in the East Division.

The Oil Kings trail the Eastern Conference leading Medicine Hat Tigers by one point for first overall in the conference. The Tigers downed the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-4 in Medicine Hat on Saturday night improving to 29-6-3-2 with their 17^th win in a row. Medicine Hat’s winning streak equals a team record set back in the 2006-07 campaign, when the Tigers won their fifth of their six total WHL titles.

“You’re always continuing to build throughout the season,” said Raiders head coach Ryan McDonald. “We’re just after Christmas.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

“Every game is important. I really liked our effort. I thought we were very relentless.

“In the second period, they had their push. They had some areas that they took advantage of. Again, we answered right back, and that third period, I thought we continued to put our foot on the gas.”

The two sides entered the third period locked in a 3-3 tie.

At the 7:34 mark of the third, Oil Kings 20-year-old star import centre Miroslav Holinka roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Prince Albert goal with a chance alone in front of the net to put the visitors up 4-3. Holinka converted a beauty setup pass from Oil Kings captain Gavin Hodnett that came from behind the Raiders goal.

Ethan Simcoe made 34 saves in goal for the Oil Kings.

With an assist earlier in the game and the goal, Holinka improved his consecutive game points streak to 11 contests netting 12 goals and 11 assists over that time.

The Raiders pressed to get the equalizer outshooting the Oil Kings 15-5 in the frame. Prince Albert’s arguably best chance to even the score came with 1:50 remaining in the third when breakout star right-winger Max Heise fired a drive from the right faceoff dot that was swallowed up by Oil Kings star netminder Ethan Simcoe.

With 12.9 seconds remaining in the third, Oil Kings star 19-year-old import right-winger Max Curran sealed the victory for the visitors with an empty-net goal.

Owen Corkish does the fly by after scoring the Raiders first goal.

“I think we just didn’t get the bounces, and it goes that way,” said Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes. “They’re a really good team over there.

“That is a playoff-type game and a potential playoff series. It stings, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll just get better.”

Saturday’s clash was the first time the Raiders and Oil Kings went at it since the passing of the WHL trade deadline on Thursday and since the world juniors wrapped up on Monday. Cootes was playing his second game for the Raiders since being acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday. Star defenceman Carter Sotheran was skating in his third game for the Oil Kings since being acquired in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks earlier that same day.

Raiders mascot PIMS makes his rounds at the Art Hauser Centre.

The Raiders came out on fire outshooting the Oil Kings 12-4 in the opening frame. The hosts finally broke through on the scoreboard with 1:49 remaining in the first when rookie 18-year-old left-winger Owen Corkish potted home a shot from the front of the Edmonton net.

At the 5:39 mark of the second, the Raiders pushed their edge up to 2-0. Cootes tipped home a shot in front of the Edmonton net that came in from the point off the stick of 19-year-old defenceman Linden Burrett to give the hosts their two goal edge. That tally was Cootes first goal as a member of the Raiders.

“It is always nice to score, obviously, and get more comfortable,” said Cootes, who made his Raiders debut on Friday in a 6-1 win over the Swift Current Broncos at the Hauser. “I thought it was a lot better today.

Lukas Sawchyn (#95) does the fly by after scoring for the Oil Kings.

“Yesterday was kind of a pretty crazy day getting here and just trying to get going. Today kind of felt more normal, just a normal game day. I got to have a normal sleep and a nap, so it felt better out there.

“It was nice to get the first one.”

The Oil Kings proceeded to go on a tear scoring the next three goals in the frame to go ahead 3-2. Lukas Sawchyn, Blake Fiddler and Noa Ta’amu all had singles for Edmonton in the surge. Sawchyn scored from the left side boards, Fiddler with an on ice shot from the point and Ta’amu with a screen shot from midrange.

Blake Fiddler scored the Oil Kings second goal on Saturday.

With 73 seconds remaining in the second, Heise potted a laser from close in at the right side of the Edmonton net to even the score at 3-3. That set the stage for the dramatics in the third period.

Michal Orsulak turned away 16 of 20 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Simcoe stopped 34 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Oil Kings.

The two sides went at it twice earlier in the season with each contest being decided in overtime. On October 18, 2025, the Oil Kings slipped past the Raiders 3-2 in extra time at the Art Hauser Centre. On December 7, 2025, the Raiders edged the Oil Kings 4-2 in overtime at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

Going forward Cootes is looking to build more chemistry with his new team.

“You get better each day, and we want to peak at the right time,” said Cootes, who had an assist to go along with his goal on Saturday. “That is obviously the playoffs.

Max Heise scored the Raiders third goal on Saturday.

“I just have to come in here and do my part and try to be the best player I can be and be a good leader. I just try to keep getting better and get more chemistry with them. Once we get a few weeks and a month as just a team, I think we’ll do a lot of damage.”

The Raiders return to action on Tuesday when they host the Brandon Wheat Kings (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

The Oil Kings get back it on Wednesday when they return home and host the Medicine Hat Tigers (7 p.m. local time, Rogers Place).

The Raiders and Oil Kings will go at it once more in the regular season. That last encounter will take place on Sunday, March 8 at 4 p.m. local time at Rogers Place.

Ethan MacKenzie (#47) chases Maddix McCagherty (#17).

Looking back and noting the two sides met in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs where the Raiders took the set with a 5-0 win in a series deciding Game 7, McDonald said there is not a lot separating the two clubs.

“I think these two teams have played each other a lot over the last four or five or six months,” said McDonald. “We’re very familiar with the group over there.

The Oil Kings celebrate their win on Saturday night.

“Again, these are two really good teams slugging it out. The margins are very thin as you continue to go through the game. It is all about just continuing to strive for that 60 minutes.”

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