Icy road conditions and a tough Kodiak team were no match for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (9-2-0) Friday as the MOB scored five goals in the third period en route to a 6-3 win over Camrose (6-4-1).
A mid-October snowfall caused a long seven hour bus trip down to Camrose for the Barons but the legs were certainly there as the MOB fell behind twice in the third period and battled back to extend their win streak to five games.
“I thought for us to score five goals in the third period and come back from being down twice, I thought was a huge character builder,” said Oil Barons Head Coach Tom Keca on his team’s performance. “We said that this road trip was going to expose what type of team we are and so far I would give our guys a passing grade after Friday’s effort.”
Matteo Aiello opened the scoring 2:10 into the second period as he walked in and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Joseph May for his fourth goal of the season.
Kodiaks leading scorer Mackenzie Bauer would tie the game at the mid-way point of the period when he slipped behind the Barons defence and tucked a backhand past Eric Szudor.
The third period started with a Liam Motely shot squeaking through the legs of Szudor to give the Kodiaks their first lead of the game.
Ryan Cox tied the game with a powerplay goal at 5:28 as he hammered home a Curtis Roach rebound.
The Kodiaks regained the lead on a backhand shot from Ryan Hartman that beat Szudor up high.
The MOB dug deep for an equalizer and it was a lucky bounce that was the break the Barons needed. Roach flipped in a shot from centre ice, May bobbled the catch and Damon Porter followed up the play and found the loose puck, walked around May and chipped in his fourth goal of the season.
“It was kind of funny because it was right after a Will Conley chance and Will yelled ‘come on give us a bounce’ and it sort of did bounce and full credit to Porter for not giving up on the play,”said Keca on the goal.
Another player following up the play would lead to the eventual game winning goal. Ryan Cox was left all alone behind the Kodiak defence and received a pass from JC Thivierge. Cox’s first shot was stopped and flipped up in the air, the 18 year old stuck with the play and batted home his second goal of the game to give the MOB the lead with 1:54 remaining.
Davis Sheldon and Brandon Ralph would add empty net goals to secure the win.
Next up for the Oil Barons is a date with the Drumheller Dragons Saturday night. The MOB beat the Dragons at the AJHL Showcase 5-4 in a shootout.
“They exemplify what their coach is and their coach was an honest hardworking player and that’s the way that they play, they’re not going to take a backseat to anybody, said Keca of what to expect from the Dragons.
You can listen to the game on Country 93.3 beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m.
Notes:
JC Thivierge extended his point streak to five games. The defenceman has four goals and eight points in that stretch. Jack Hamly had his four game point streak snapped. Davis Sheldon’s goal was his first in a MOB uniform.
The Barons made a couple of trades this week sending Ben Allen to the Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL for future considerations and trading Cody Hodgson to the Kindersley Klippers of the SJHL for future considerations.
Written by: Taylor Pope, mymcmurray.com.
Photo taken at the Casman Centre on January 15, 2016 by Dan Lines.