WHITECOURT, AB (March 5, 2013) — Justin Fraser (Hussar, AB) scored the game-winner in the dying minutes of the 3rd period, as the Fort McMurray Oil Barons evened their opening round series with the Whitecourt Wolverines at 1 game a piece after a 2-1 road win on Tuesday night.
The Barons bounced back from a 4-2 loss in Game 1 the previous night thanks in large part to a 33-save performance from goaltender Tanner Jaillet.
The scoring was opened on another Barons powerplay at the 10:47 mark of the first period when Adam Durkee (Lafayette, CO) tipped in a centring pass from rookie forward Erik Pedersen (Calgary, AB) for the first junior A playoff point for both players.
It was part of a first period dominated by the MOB, who outshot the Wolverines 15-8 in the frame, after mustering only 4 shots in the first period of Game 1.
But the Wolverines took advantage of a MOB miscue on a later powerplay, when Jerome Raymond was given the puck on a defensive zone turnover from the Barons, and tossed a backdoor pass to league-leading scorer Mathieu Guertin for a one-time shorthanded goal, his second shorthanded marker of the series, to knot the game up 1-1.
But the final goal would come from Fraser off of a fortunate deflection from a Matt Purmal (Merrill, WI) dump-in, which deflected off a skate to the MOB forward in the Whitecourt slot. His high wrist shot beat goaltender Tanner Kovacs for the game-winner, as the Barons withstood heavy late pressure from the Wolverines, including a 6-on-4 power-play and empty net advantage for the home side in the final minute of the game.
The series now switches settings to Fort McMurray for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday night at the Casman Centre.
Puck drop both nights is 8 o'clock with pre-game coverage starting at 7:45 on Country 93.3.
Country 93.3 3 stars:
3. Tanner Kovacs (32 saves/34 shots)
2. Tanner Jaillet (34 saves/35 shots)
1. Justin Fraser (1 game-winning goal)
