The Oil Barons took away home ice advantage with a 5-3 win in Game One against the Whitecourt Wolverines. Cade Petersen and Leo Adams each had a three point night, Brendan Gee made 34 saves in the win, while the Oil Barons got multi-point efforts from Ryan Arnold and Justin Dumais.
It did not take long for Fort McMurray to open the scoring. 51 seconds in, Adams beat Elliott Pratt with a shot over the glove for the first goal of the AJHL playoffs. The MOB added to their lead with a power-play goal. Arnold’s shot from the left wing was stopped by Pratt, but the rebound landed to Petersen, who tucked it home, making it 2-0 Fort McMurray. The Oil Barons then made it 3-0. Carter Ellsworth stole a pass in the offensive zone, slipped the puck to Justin Dumais, who set up Arnold, stunning the crowd at JDA Place. But Whitecourt showed no quit. A bounce off a defender found its way to Jalen Bianchet, and the nominee for league MVP beat Gee with a deke. The Wolverines captain found the back of the net again before the end of the first period. Kyle Tucker’s shot was blocked and the rebound skipped to Bianchet, who slammed it home.
At the start of the second period, the Oil Barons saw a little adversity, but they killed about three minutes of a double minor against Griffin Gidney, maintaining their 3-2 advantage. Then they added to their lead. Evan Benoit smashed into Quentin Bourne on the forecheck, centered the puck, and Petersen ripped home his second goal of the game. A pretty passing play made it 5-2 Fort McMurray, roughly halfway through the second period. Dumais found Petersen on the right wing, who centered for Adams for the power-play goal, and the Oil Barons once again had a three goal buffer. Whitecourt got one goal back late in the game. Tristan Slywka pulled off a highlight reel, shorthanded goal, but the Oil Barons finished the night with a Game One 5-3 win.
Game Two takes place Saturday at JDA Place with Fort McMurray eyeing to take home a 2-0 series lead. Puck drop is at 7pm with all the action on the MOB Radio Network and Play 103.
