The young guns shined brightly, as Fort McMurray overcame adversity to stretch their winning streak to four games. Jaggar John scored in back to back games, Carter Ellsworth tallied his first career AJHL game winning goal, while Cade Petersen and Lucas McDonald also found their way onto the scoresheet. Brendan Gee was also phenomenal in net, earning both wins for a depleted Oil Barons roster.
Friday was a gutsy effort by the Oil Barons. Despite missing eight players due to the flu, Fort McMurray muscled out a 3-1 win over the Drayton Valley Thunder. Five affiliated players were in the lineup, three of them made their AJHL debuts, including local products Ethan Collins and Kyle Denis. Aeden McCarry was also terrific in his first AJHL game. Fort McMurray opened the scoring early in the game. Jaggar John got the puck on the goal line and sniped it over the shoulder of Kellen Salter, for his eighth goal of the season. However, the Thunder tied up the contest before the end of the first. Loughlan McMullan’s centering pass bounced off the stick of Cody Nordstrom and eluded Brendan Gee. Chances in the second period were coming back and forth. Towards the end of the frame, the Oil Barons restored their lead. Justin Dumais set up Cade Petersen for a one-timed blast on the power-play, making it 2-1. Drayton Valley pressed to equalize in the third period. Daniel Zhou almost tied the game on an end to end rush, only to be turned aside by Gee. With 49 seconds left, the MOB’s captain, Drew Freer, scored an empty net goal, to put a dagger into the Thunder.
Saturday saw the Camrose Kodiaks come out firing. Outshooting the Barons 9-1 early in the game, Camrose opened the scoring off a power-play goal from Shane Purves. The Oil Barons slowly got their feet underneath them and found an equalizer. Ryan Arnold got in behind the defence and slipped the puck through the five hole of Carter Capton, for his team leading 28th goal of the season. However, the Kodiaks quickly responded. Purves sniped home his second goal of the game, his fourth against Fort McMurray this season. The second period saw chances at both ends. A little more than halfway through the frame, Jaggar John pulled the puck to the middle of the ice and snapped home his ninth goal of the campaign, tying the game at 2-2. Camrose restored their lead less than two minutes later. Tavish Beagle drove to the net and deflected home a centering feed past Gee, marking his third goal of the season. The third period saw the MOB dig deep. At the conclusion of a Stefan Serediak penalty, Lucas McDonald drove the puck into Camrose’s zone, labelling a shot off the post and in, tying the contest at 3-3. The Oil Barons counter-attack gave them the lead almost halfway through the third. Patani Mutambo pushed the puck ahead for Carter Ellsworth. The rookie from Fort McMurray got a partial breakaway and lifted a shot over the glove of Capton for his fifth goal of the season. It was a lead the Oil Barons would not concede, and they earned their first four game winning streak since November of 2022.
Fort McMurray continues their road trip on Wednesday with a massive showdown against the Bonnyville Pontiacs. Puck drop at the RJ Lalonde Arena is at 7pm. The Oil Barons unofficial magic number to clinch a playoff spot is eight.
