Fort McMurray wrapped up four games in five nights on the road with a pair of victories in two very different manners. It started with an 8-1 dismantling of the Devon Xtreme, before a come from behind 5-4 overtime victory over Camrose, where the MOB erased a 4-1 deficit.
Monday’s game saw the Oil Barons jump on the Xtreme early and often. Nolan Eastwood opened the scoring halfway through the first period. The young man from Strathcona, Alberta received a feed from Griffin Gidney, before firing the puck through the legs of Preston Lewis for his fifth goal of the season. Two and a half minutes later, Dustin Good scored his first goal back from injury by going bar down to make it 2-0 Fort McMurray. Gidney tripled the Oil Barons lead. Eastwood found Gidney wide open in the slot, and the rookie picked the top corner for his sixth goal of the season. 1:40 remaining in the first period and the MOB made it 4-0. Cade Petersen finished off a pretty passing play involving Trennen Redlick and Eastwood for his eighth tally of the year. The Oil Barons continued to pour it on in the second period. On their first power-play opportunity, Dustin Good one timed his second goal of the game to make it 5-0. Leo Adams set up Alexis Beaulac for his eighth goal of the season to make it 6-0 Barons. After that goal, Lewis was replaced by Leo Den Besten. Fort McMurray found one more goal before the end of the second period. After being denied on a great individual effort, Carter Schmidt set up Louis-Charles Cunningham for a shorthanded goal, stretching the Oil Barons lead to 7-0. The Xtreme broke Gavin Melcher’s shutout bid late in the third period. After a stellar stop on Hunter Yanick, Jaxen Smyth poked the puck home on the pad of Melcher to make it 7-1. Melcher still finished the night with 25 saves. Fort McMurray added one more power-play goal in the final minute of the game. A point shot from Shawn Eliav bounced off the blocker of Den Besten, looped over his head and fell into the goal, making it 8-1 MOB.
Tuesday saw a rapid start to the scoring for both Fort McMurray and Camrose. 21 seconds in, Owen Lansing poked the puck through the legs of Melcher giving the Kodiaks at 1-0 lead. Justin Dumais responded for the Oil Barons just seven seconds later. The Longueuil, Quebec product stepped into the offensive zone, snapping the puck over the glove of Carter Capton for his 12th goal of the season. Camrose restored their lead. After a stellar stop on Garrett Thom, AJ Schaaf followed up the rebound, putting it past a sprawled Melcher, making it 2-1 Kodiaks. Spencer Masters extended Camrose’s lead by sniping a shot over the shoulder of Melcher before the end of the first period. The Kodiaks then went up 4-1 early in the second period. A point shot by Nicholas Larkin was stopped, before Masters jammed home his second goal of the game. Fort McMurray cut the lead in half roughly halfway through the period. Shawn Eliav unleashed a snipe from the slot for his fifth goal of the season, bringing the score to 4-2. The power-play completed the comeback for the Oil Barons in the third period. A point shot from Eliav was deflected by Danny Akkouche in the high slot to make it 4-3. Then, with about two minutes remaining in the third, Eliav found Dustin Good charging to the net, and the Ontario man pulled the puck around Capton for a highlight reel goal, tying the game at four. Overtime almost went the distance for the two teams. Both goalies made some key saves, but it was the MOB who would find the game winner. Dumais won a race into the offensive zone, dropped the puck for Patani Mutambo in the left face-off circle, and the rookie zipped a shot off the post and past Capton, winning the game for Fort McMurray.
The Oil Barons have one more contest to wrap up the regular season. They will face the Bonnyville Pontiacs at the RJ Lalonde Arena on Saturday for their sixth and final meeting. Puck drop is at 7pm.
