Fort McMurray’s losing streak stretched to seven games on Tuesday, after a 6-1 loss at the hands of the Brooks Bandits. Demitri DiFlorio had the Oil Barons lone goal, while Gage Stewart stopped 39 of the 45 shots he faced.
Brooks dominated the first period, outshooting the Oil Barons 17-1 while opening up a 3-0 lead. Mirko Buttazzoni got the Bandits on the board, after a point shot from Ethan Beyer caught Stewart in the mask, before the puck fell for Buttazzoni. With the goal, Buttazzoni extended his point streak to 20 games. Logan Sawyer extended Brooks’ lead. Sawyer’s shot was initially stopped by Stewart, but the Calgary product rifled the rebound off the back of Stewart and in making it 2-0 Brooks. Mathieu Taillefer made it 3-0 Bandits. Off a face-off win, Taillefer unleashed a shot from the blue-line past a screened Stewart for his third goal of the season. The second period was a much better effort by the Oil Barons. The MOB almost equaled the Bandits in shots and if not for a couple of bad bounces, could’ve equaled them in goals too. However, Brooks continued to extend their lead. Nathan Free snagged his 20th goal of the season to make it 4-0. The Penn State commit picked off an errant pass before charging into Fort McMurray’s end. There Free wrapped the puck around the goal, past the outstretched leg of Stewart. Free then made it 5-0 Brooks on the power-play. Picking up the puck in the left face-off circle, the Calgary kid danced around a defender before tucking the puck between Stewart and the near post for his 21st goal of the season. Fort McMurray got on the board in the third period. Rylan Ringor pulled the puck off the boards and found a wide open DiFlorio in the slot. The Massapequa, New York product went five hole on Johnny Hicks for his second goal of the season, to make it a 5-1 game. The Bandits got the goal back later on in the frame. Just as an Oil Baron penalty expired, Nick Peluso scooped up the puck in the right face-off circle, and the pride of Rochester, New York sniped a shot past the blocker of Stewart to make it 6-1 Bandits.
The Oil Barons look to snap their losing skid when they head to the Border City for a pair of contests against the Lloydminster Bobcats. The two teams collide for the first time since September, with puck drop at 7pm and 8pm on Friday and Saturday, respectively.