The MOB took three of a possible four points on the road this weekend. Erasing deficits was the theme of the weekend, as the Oil Barons opened things up Friday with a 3-2 shootout loss to Drayton Valley, before a 7-3 win on Saturday in Camrose. Charles-Olivier Villeneuve, Griffin Gidney, Patani Mutambo and Louis-Charles Cunningham each had three points, Cody Nordstrom had points in back to back games, while Danny Akkouche snapped his four game drought on the scoresheet with points in back to back games.
Fort McMurray found themselves down by a pair in Friday’s game against Drayton Valley. The Oil Barons looked flat through the first half of the game, and the Thunder made them pay with Oskar Aitken-Salmons scoring on and two-on-one late in the first period, before Tucker Tullikopf nabbed a power-play goal off a redirection, early in the second. However, the MOB found life late in the middle frame with a power-play goal of their own. Akkouche shoveled the puck on goal and Griffin Gidney hammered home the rebound for his third goal of the season to make it a 2-1 hockey game. The Oil Barons put the pedal to the floor in the third period. After several attempts, the Blue and Gold finally beat Nicholas Cristiano. A terrific pass from Villeneuve found Mutambo on the left wing, and the rookie defender wired a shot over Cristiano’s shoulder tying the game at 2-2. Fort McMurray thought they had won the game in overtime. However, a disallowed goal, a highlight reel save from Cristiano and three posts saw the game go to a shootout. In the skills competition, Ben Winkelmann scored the lone goal, slipping the puck through the five hole of Vincent Filion, while Cristiano stopped all three Oil Baron shooters.
It was teddy bear toss night in Camrose on Saturday. Despite jumping to an excellent start, Fort McMurray found themselves trailing big after one period of play. An unfortunate bounce saw the puck ricochet off the shoulder of Noah Stenvig, over his head and in the net for the teddy bear goal, courtesy of Liam Payne. Less than a minute later, Sam Lozinski would one-time a shot past Stenvig to make it 2-0 Kodiaks. Then Garrett Thom jammed home a rebound in the crease late in the opening frame, and the Oil Barons found themselves down 3-0. However, the game shifted midway through the second period. Cade Petersen got the MOB on the scoreboard. A point shot from Cody Nordstrom was turned aside, and the rookie forward chipped the rebound over Noah Caballero for his third goal of the season. Less than a minute later, Fort McMurray made it a one goal game. Danny Akkouche outwaited two Kodiak defenders before sniping the top corner for his ninth goal of the season. Then Charles-Olivier Villeneuve scored a highlight reel goal to tie the game, capping off three goals by the Oil Barons in 1:54. The Oil Barons found another gear in the third period. Villeneuve scored his second goal of the game and 10th of the season, receiving a behind the net feed from Jason Huang before firing the shot over Caballero. Alexis Beaulac scored off a face-off for his third goal of the season to make it 5-3 Fort McMurray. Jason Walia also scored off a face-off win to make it 6-3 MOB. Then Justin Dumais wrapped up the scoring after a pretty passing play between him and Petersen for his fourth goal of the year, to make it 7-3 Oil Barons.
Fort McMurray returns home for a crucial matchup against the Bonnyville Pontiacs on Wednesday night. Puck drop will be at 7:30pm at Centerfire Place. The Oil Barons will open a silent auction for their special Teddy Bear Toss jerseys on Wednesday, which will run until the end of the second period of Friday’s game against the Calgary Canucks.
Tickets available online: https://tickets.fortmcmurrayoilbarons.ca/
