The Oil Barons saw their record fall to 1-3 after dropping both games over the weekend to wrap up a season opening four game road trip. Ryan Arnold led the offence with a pair of goals, while Jaxen Gauchier, Berney Weston, Drew Freer and Ben Albers all made their season debuts this weekend.
20 minutes was the difference between victory and defeat on Friday. Despite outplaying the Xtreme in the first and third periods, three goals against in the second saw the Oil Barons fall 4-2. Fort McMurray started the game on the back foot giving up the first goal nine seconds into the contest. Jason Walia, who had two assists in the game, fanned on a dump in and Ben Deacon raced down the ice cashing in with his first career AJHL goal. It would take about three minutes for the Oil Barons to respond. Off a faceoff win, Walia’s shot was turned aside by Preston Lewis. The rebound went to Leo Adams who tucked it between the pad of Lewis and the post for his first goal of the season. The MOB took their lone lead of the game midway through the first period. A point shot from Walia was deflected in by Drew Freer in the captain’s season debut. Jaxen Gauchier also picked up an assist on the play giving him his first point as an Oil Baron. In the second period, the Xtreme dictated the run of play. It led to the equalizer five minutes into the frame. Xander Schulte backhanded a puck on goal, which Stefan Serediak tipped home. A little more than halfway through the period, Devon gained the lead. Off an offensive zone faceoff win, the puck slid to Jeremy Friesen and the Abbottsford, BC product sniped the top corner to make it 3-2. Nolan Eastwood struck against his former team to increase the Devon lead. With tremendous pressure in the offensive zone, Eastwood threw the puck in front, where it bounced off a defender and past Cunningham. The Oil Barons took over the game in the third period. Aided by a pair of powerplays, Fort McMurray outshot the Xtreme 15-3 in the final period, but they couldn’t solve Lewis and Devon held on to the 4-2 win.
In Whitecourt on Saturday, the Wolverines opened the scoring about halfway through the first period. Kyle Tucker directed a puck on goal that was stopped by Berney Weston, but when the goaltender stood up, the puck dropped out of his pad and trickled over the goal line. Jalen Bianchet increased the Wolverine lead to 2-0 with three minutes to go in the first period. After a Benjamin Morton turnover, Mason Russell issued a pass to his captain, whose shot overwhelmed Weston. Fort McMurray got a response 1:37 later. Ryan Arnold broke down the right wing on a 2-on-1, snapping the puck top corner, cutting the Whitecourt lead in half. The Oil Barons thought they tied the game in the second period. A bounce caught rookie netminder Luke McKechnie out of position, but Justin Dumais missed the open net. Whitecourt turned around and padded their lead. Bianchet fished the puck to the slot, where Tucker cashed in his second goal of the game to make it 3-1 Wolverines. Fort McMurray got themselves within one goal in the third. A bouncing puck found Arnold, and the overage forward tucked the puck home to make it 3-2. Despite some great saves from Weston, the offence dried up on the Oil Barons and the Wolverines pulled away in the second half of the third period. Cole Barrett, in his Wolverines debut, smashed home a shot to make it 4-2. Russell sniped home his third goal of the season, then Tyler Pretty capped the scoring and Whitecourt was victorious 6-2.
Fort McMurray heads back to Centerfire Place where they open up a nine game homestand through the month of October. It starts with the home opener on Thursday, when the Drumheller Dragons come to town. There is a new puck drop time at Centerfire Place, which is at 7pm. Get your tickets here: https://tickets.fortmcmurrayoilbarons.ca/
