The MOB swept their weekend homestand against the Olds Grizzlys with their best offensive production for two games this season. Fort McMurray pulled out victories by 8-2 and 6-4 to put themselves three points back of Lloydminster for 3rd place in the north, and 13 points up on Bonnyville for the final playoff position.
Saturday saw eight different Barons find the back of the net. Mason Finley opened the scoring after receiving a feed from Danny Akkouche in the slot, notching his eighth goal of the season. Less than three minutes later, Nolan Eastwood stole the puck in his own zone, then went 1-on-3 shorthanded into Olds’ territory, where he snapped home his third goal of the season. Cade Petersen made it 3-0 Oil Barons before the end of the first period. He received a clever cross ice pass from Ryan Arnold, before wiring home his sixth goal of the year. The Grizzlys got one back early in the second period. Johnny Maruna got a pass from Aiden Knutson and lifted a shot over the glove of Vincent Filion to make it a 3-1 game. Fort McMurray got the goal back late in the second period. A mad scramble saw the puck pop loose in Olds’ crease, and Leo Adams steered it into the wide open net to snap a 25 game goal drought for the man from Gander, Newfoundland. The Oil Barons pulled away in the third period. Drew Freer stopped a run of 11 games without a goal with his fourth of the season to make it 5-1. A point shot from Patani Mutambo bounced off of Louis-Charles Cunningham and beyond Connor Johnson to make it 6-1 MOB. The Grizzlys got one goal back with Brayden Schwartz scoring his first marker as a member of the black and gold. Then Fort McMurray scored two goals in the span of 40 seconds. Tristan Taylor got his first goal as an Oil Baron, finishing off a pretty passing play with assists to Carter Schmidt and Justin Dumais. Then Danny Akkouche found the back of the net on the power-play for his team leading 16th goal of the season.
Sunday saw Fort McMurray trail for the first time in the weekend. A turnover slid right to Nolan Viesner, who snapped a shot past Gavin Melcher to make it 1-0 Olds. The MOB got a reply while shorthanded. Finley’s drive to the net was stopped by Ben Dardis, but Schmidt followed up the play scoring on the rebound to make it 1-1. The Oil Barons forecheck gave them a 2-1 lead. Petersen slipped the check of a defender and found Leo Adams wide open on the backdoor for a tap in. Another mistake by the MOB in their own zone ended up in the back of their net. Melcher lost the puck in his skates and kicked it to Hunter Motley, who tied the game at 2-2 heading into the first intermission. Halfway through the second period, the Oil Barons restored their lead. Trennen Redlick wrapped the puck around the net and past Dardis for his first career AJHL goal, and Fort McMurray was up 3-2. Drew Freer, while celebrating his 20th birthday, made it 4-2 Oil Barons. Cody Nordstrom fed a puck into the slot, and Freer notched his 5th goal of the year. The Grizzlys fought back. While on the power-play, a point shot from Lucas Schaefer was deflected over the pad of Melcher by Quinn Metzger, and it was a one goal game heading into the intermission. Olds tie the game early in the third period. A pass from Viesner hopped to the stick of Motley, who deposited his second goal of the game, making it 4-4. But it was the Oil Barons who got the final say on the scoresheet. A clever play by Petersen in behind of Olds’ net fooled Dardis, before the Sherwood Park native tucked the puck home. It was back to back game winning goals for the rookie forward. Freer would score his second goal of the game, this time into an empty net, and the MOB captured the 6-4 victory.
Fort McMurray will be off for 13 days before they embark on a southern Alberta road trip. Their next game is on February 8th against the Centennial Cup host Calgary Canucks, puck drop will be at 5pm.