The Oil Barons split a weekend set at home against the Whitecourt Wolverines. After dropping Friday’s game 5-2, Fort McMurray responded with a 2-1 triumph on Saturday. Charles-Olivier Villeneuve and Carter Schmidt each had a pair of goals, while Vincent Filion manned the net both games for the blue and gold.
Fort McMurray opened the scoring on Friday. A turnover in the offensive zone allowed Villeneuve to snap the puck top corner for his seventh goal of the season, and the MOB carried the lead into the first intermission. The Wolverines responded in the second. Dwayne Jean Jr raced down the left wing and fired a shot over the glove of Filion to tie the game at 1-1. The Oil Barons got their lead back. Just as a power-play expired, Justin Dumais sent a seam pass to Villeneuve, who rifled the puck into the top corner for his second goal of the game. However, the game turned on its head with a late 5-on-3 power-play for Whitecourt. Marcello Giorgi tied the game at two with a snipe from a tight angle. Then Dylan Ruptash gave the Wolverines their first lead of the game, steering home a centering feed just 28 seconds later. Despite a push from Fort McMurray in the third period, Whitecourt got some insurance with a pair of goals from Stefan Serediak and they walked away with the 5-2 win.
Saturday’s game saw a much better effort from the Oil Barons, start to finish. They outshot the Wolverines, won the special teams battle and never let up on the North Division leaders. However, it was Whitecourt who opened the scoring in the second period. Jean Jr. drove to the net and tipped home a pass from Spencer Claerhout for his second goal of the weekend and eighth of the season. It didn’t take long for Fort McMurray to answer back. Carter Schmidt was stopped on a partial breakaway, but the puck slid onto the goal line and after several whacks, Schmidt put home the goal to tie the game at 1-1. Less than two minutes later, the Oil Barons would take the lead. A shot from Villeneuve was deflected by Schmidt through the five hole of Zac Onyskiw for Schmidt’s second goal of the game and eighth of the season. Fort McMurray had several opportunities to extend their lead in the third period, but a great save by Onyskiw on Ryan Arnold and a post against Louis Charles Cunningham denied the Oil Barons. However, the MOB had all the scoring they needed as they didn’t allow many chances against Filion, and they came away with two points.
The Oil Barons wrap up their November schedule on the road next week. First they will visit the Drayton Valley Thunder on Friday, with puck drop at the Omniplex at 7pm. Then Saturday will see the MOB battle the Camrose Kodiaks. That game starts at 6pm.
