CALGARY, AB (November 9, 2012) — Doug Jones (Calgary, AB) scored twice in his debut, but the comeback fell just short as the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (10-10-2) fell 3-2 to the Calgary Canucks (11-11-1) on the road on Friday night.
For the Barons, it snapped a two-game win streak that had seen the club climb back to the .500 mark. The Canucks leapfrogged Canmore into fourth place in the South division, while Fort McMurray fell back to second-last place in the north due to Drayton Valley's win over Lloydminster.
The Canucks opened the scoring 3:58 into the first period when forward Trent Geiger capitalized on a turnover in front of the MOB net, and tucked a breakaway shot past goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, AB) for a 1-0 lead.
For Geiger, it was his third goal of the year against Fort McMurray – he had scored two in the first game between the two teams, a 4-2 Canucks win at the Casman Centre on October 20th.
The Barons nearly tied the game in the final seconds of the first, but a wrist shot from forward Harry Hendrix rang iron when it hit the crossbar behind Andrew Guglielmin.
Geiger set up the first goal of the second period when Derek Thorogood sped by two McMurray defenders en route to a second breakaway goal, to make it 2-0.
The MOB narrowed the lead when Jones fed a pass to lineman Danny Gayle (Calgary, AB), who returned it to Jones in front of the net for a point-blank one-timer, his first goal as a Baron.
But the Canucks capitalized on an early third period holding penalty from MOB forward Harry Hendrix (Calgary, AB), as Curtis Lewington fired a point shot wrister through traffic for the eventual game-winner.
Jones's second of the night came with just over a minute left when he tipped a point shot from defenceman John Teets (Fairbanks, AK), but the Barons were unable to gain even an offensive zone possession in the final minute to find the tying goal, as the Canucks held on to complete the regular season sweep of the Barons.
Canucks goalie Guglielmin was stellar in nets, highlighted by a breakaway save on Gayle and a pad stop on a 2-on-1 one timer from Scott Pooley (Granger, IN), en route to a 32 save on 34 shot win.
Jaillet stopped 18 of 20 for the Barons.
The MOB road trip continues tomorrow night against the defending league champion Brooks Bandits (19-0-0), who are coming off setting the league record for longest win streak to start a season.
Game time is 7:00 in Brooks, with pre-game coverage starting at 6:45 on Country 93.3.
Country 93.3 3 stars:
3. Doug Jones (2 goals)
2. Trent Geiger (1 goal, 1 assist)
1. Andrew Guglielmin (32 saves, 34 shots)