Fort McMurray opened 2026 with a weekend sweep of the Devon Xtreme. Ryan Arnold and Justin Dumais each had five points, Nathan Claydon scooped up his first win as a Baron, while the MOB created a five point gap for second overall between themselves and the Lloydminster Bobcats.
The Oil Barons rode a trio of second period goals to down the Xtreme 5-3 on Saturday. Stefan Serediak opened the scoring for Devon halfway through the first period, firing a shot over the glove of Brendan Gee. But the MOB responded before the end of the frame. Drew Freer let go a sneaky backhander that fooled Tyler Swanson, for the captain’s 12th goal of the season. Fort McMurray dominated the first 15 minutes of the second period. It started with a power-play goal. A shot by Lucas McDonald bounced off Swanson, off the pants of Griffin Gidney and in the net, for Gidney’s third goal of the campaign. Justin Dumais extended Fort McMurray’s lead to 3-1. After having his initial shot blocked, the Montreal product rifled the second effort into the top corner. Picking up an assist on the goal was Ryan Arnold, extending his point streak to 21 games. Arnold then made it 4-1 after the halfway point of the period. A seeing eye pass from Dumais picked out Arnold, who made no mistake on the man advantage. When everything was going the Oil Barons way, Devon began to push back. Maddox Rose scored before the end of the second to make it a 4-2 game. Wyatt Ball, in his Devon debut, made it 4-3 off a Fort McMurray turnover, and things got tense at Centerfire Place. However, Arnold would add an empty net marker, for his team leading 22nd goal of the season, and Fort McMurray started off 2026 in the win column.
Just like every other Fort McMurray vs Devon game, the Xtreme opened the scoring on Sunday. After an Oil Baron turnover, Nolan Eastwood was turned aside by Nathan Claydon, before Stefan Serediak followed up and poked home the rebound. But it didn’t take long for a response by the MOB. Off a Ryan Arnold faceoff win, Justin Dumais stepped to the middle of the ice and ripped a shot home for his 19th goal of the season, extending his point streak to seven games. Arnold also pushed his point streak to a league high 22 games. In a penalty filled second period, where 13 infractions were called, Fort McMurray got a go ahead marker. While on the power-play, Leo Adams was stopped in tight by Luke McKechnie, but the rebound bounced to Arnold, who snapped home his team leading 23rd goal of the campaign. The MOB got some insurance early in the third period. Spencer Kunz drove to the net, got a pass from Dumais, was initially denied by McKechnie, before potting home the rebound to make it 3-1. Devon didn’t quit. They got a rebound goal from Serediak, his second of the game, to make it 3-2. But that’s as close as the Xtreme would get. Evan Benoit picked the pocket of Darius Hordal and slid the puck into an empty net, and Fort McMurray extended their point streak to six games with the 4-2 win.
The Oil Barons will hit the road for a major North division test. They will head to Grande Prairie to battle the Storm in a three games in four days trip. It starts on Thursday at 7pm at the Bonnetts Energy Center, followed by a 6pm game on Saturday and a 2pm game on Sunday.
