Ice come to end of playoff road with gruesome loss to Oil Kings

The Winnipeg Ice reached the end of the playoff road in Edmonton Friday night.

It was a gruesome conclusion for the visitors, who spotted the Oil Kings a 4-0 first-period lead en route to a 7-1 loss for Winnipeg in Game 5 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference final at Rogers Place.

The result gave the Oil Kings a 4-1 win in the best-of-seven series.

Edmonton exploded for three goals in a span of 55 seconds early in the first and added a fourth before the period was done.

Carter Souch scored at 4:05 and Jake Neighbours quickly struck for a pair to boost the lead to 3-0.

Oil Kings defenceman Kaiden Guhle made it 4-0 at 10:18 of the opening period, signalling the end of the night for Ice starter Gage Alexander, who made only five saves.

Souch, with his ninth of the playoffs, and Guhle, with his fifth, added their second goals in middle period.

Jakub Demek added a power-play marker late in the second period. Souch and Demek added a pair of assists each.