Two losses saw Fort McMurray wrap up a southern road swing at 2-2-0. The Oil Barons struggled to find offence, as they fell 4-1 to Drumheller and 3-0 to Olds. Justin Dumais got the lone goal for the MOB, while Noah Stenvig made his Oil Barons debut, stopping 36 of the 39 shots he faced.
On Friday, Drumheller opened the scoring early in the first period. After a turnover, the Dragons entered the offence zone on an odd man rush, and Ellis Mieyette set up Bradley Gallo for his 14th goal of the season. It took until the second period for the Oil Barons to respond. A great stick by Alexis Beaulac caused a turnover at Drumheller’s blue-line, allowing Danny Akkouche to draw everyone to the left side of the ice, before he set up Dumais for an easy tap-in to make it 1-1. However, the Dragons restored their lead, one they wouldn’t concede. While on the power-play, Gallo sped down the right wing and slid a shot under the pads of Vincent Filion, making it 2-1 Drumheller. The Dragons found insurance in the third period with a pair of goals. The first was from Avery Johnson, who went between his legs, beating Filion over the right shoulder. The second was a 5-on-3 power-play goal from Will McLaughlin, his first career goal in the AJHL, giving Drumheller their 4-1 victory.
The Saturday afternoon game in Olds saw the Grizzlys jump out to an early lead. Less than two minutes into the game, a point shot from Keil Schmalz bounced off an Oil Baron past Stenvig, for Schmalz’s first career AJHL goal. Before six minutes were up in the game, Olds made it 2-0. Junshi Hideshima unleashed a shot from the slot which was deflected past Stenvig by Braeden Veldhuizen doubling the Grizzlys advantage. The Oil Barons had several opportunities to score, but they were foiled by Ben Dardis, or they missed the target. Cody Nordstrom also tried to fire his team up, after dropping the mitts with Michael Albert. Olds added one more marker, seconds into the third period. Justin Vandermeer’s point shot beat a screened Stenvig, making it 3-0 Grizzlys.
Fort McMurray gets a week’s rest before they wrap up their five game road trip. The Oil Barons will head west on Saturday to battle the Whitecourt Wolverines, the first of three straight meetings between the two teams. Puck drop is at 7pm.
