Fort McMurray wrapped up their road trip, putting themselves on a three game point streak, by defeating Canmore 3-0, before falling to Calgary 5-4 in overtime. Brendan Gee made his Oil Barons debut, where he posted a shutout. Meanwhile, Justin Dumais, Drew Freer and Lucas McDonald all had multi-goal games.
The Oil Barons put up a dominant performance on Friday, shutting down one of the top offences in the league. After weathering the storm through the first three minutes of the game, the MOB pushed back on Eagles. Fort McMurray thought they opened the scoring in the first period when Cody Nordstrom wired a shot to the back of the net, but the referees waved it off after an apparent goalie interference call. The Barons would eventually strike in the second period. After an offensive zone face-off win, Justin Dumais snapped a shot from a sharp angle that found its way through the pads of Hudson Sedo. Fort McMurray then showcased their quick strike offence. Twenty seconds later, while falling to the ice, Leo Adams threaded a pass to Drew Freer, where the captain slammed home his sixth goal of the season. The Oil Barons thought they extended their lead again before the end of the second period. Lucas McDonald sniped the top corner, but the referees called offsetting penalties in behind the play, disallowing another Fort McMurray goal. The third period saw the MOB suffocate the Eagles, outshooting them 15-3. They also added one more insurance marker. Off a Ryan Arnold face-off win, Dumais picked up the puck, spun on the defender, before scoring from another impossible angle shot short side on Sedo, for his seventh goal of the year. Fort McMurray took the lead to the final buzzer, marking Brendan Gee picking up his first career shutout in his Oil Barons debut.
The MOB got off to a terrific start against Calgary. A couple minutes into the game, a point shot from Ben Albers was stopped by Noah Nelson and the rebound went right to Lucas McDonald, who put home his third goal of the year. Just over a minute later, Fort McMurray made it 2-0 on the power-play. A centering pass by Leo Adams got caught in the feet of a defender, and Drew Freer poked the puck into the back of the net. About halfway through the first period, Calgary got some life. After a couple undisciplined penalties by the MOB, Harper Lolacher one timed a 5-on-3 power-play goal to make it 2-1. Fort McMurray got the goal back before the end of the frame. Adams’ seam pass found McDonald, who cashed in his second goal of the game. The second period saw the Canucks capitalize on their scoring opportunities. Early on, Ben Binder-Nord scored off of a bouncing puck to make it 3-2. Then a couple minutes later, Harper Lolacher would score another power-play goal off a one-timer to tie the game for Calgary. Yet another power-play goal found the back of the Fort McMurray net. This time, Nicholas Anisimovicz would give Calgary a 4-3 lead. The third period saw fatigue start to set in against the Oil Barons and it looked like the Canucks were about to grind out a win. However, with 35.3 seconds remaining, Freer snapped a shot off a faceoff that surprised Nelson, tying the game at 4-4 and sending it to overtime. The extra frame only lasted a couple of minutes. Calgary maintained the entire possession and Conner Radke ripped home the game winner, giving the home side a 5-4 win.
The Oil Barons return to Centerfire Place, where they will play another two games against the South Division. The Drayton Valley Thunder come to town to battle Fort McMurray on Saturday and Sunday. Puck drop on Saturday is at 7pm, Sunday is a 2pm start.
