The Oil Barons’ season ended in heartbreaking fashion as they fell 3-2 in overtime at the hands of the Canmore Eagles. Gage Stewart made 40 saves including several highlight reel stops, while Carter Schmidt and Jaxon Priddle found the back of the net for the blue and gold.
Canmore opened the scoring midway through the first period. A point shot from Brody Mortensen fooled a screened Stewart, as the puck flew into the top corner making it 1-0 Eagles. Both goalies proceeded to put on a show, including a pair of highlight reel saves from Matthew Malin, who finished the night with 21 saves. Fort McMurray solved Malin in the second period. Schmidt led the Barons up the ice shorthanded, found Liam Cox-Smith, who was denied by Malin, before Schmidt poked home the rebound to make it 1-1. The Oil Barons then struck for their first lead of the series. Demitri DiFlorio picked up the puck in the right face-off circle and found a wide open Jaxon Priddle with a back door pass, who made no mistake, making it 2-1 Fort McMurray. Stewart did everything he could to preserve the lead, making more stellar saves against the Eagles, including robbing Owen Jones with the blocker in the third period. However, with less than five minutes remaining, Canmore finally solved Stewart. On the power-play, Jones picked out Nathan Macpherson-Ridgewell, and the former Kamloops Blazer chipped it over top of Stewart tying the game at 2-2. Stewart had one more unbelievable save in the last minute of play, diving across to make a stick save on the Eagles, sending the game to overtime. The extra frame only lasted 43 seconds. Kayden Rawji entered the offensive zone and his centering pass deflected off the skate of an Oil Baron eluding Stewart, completing the Play In Series sweep.
With the loss Fort McMurray’s season comes to a close. The Oil Barons move on four graduating players (Nikolas Hoogendoorn, Vincent Lamanna, Gage Stewart and Liam Cox-Smith) and wish them the best in their future endeavors. They also thank all of their fans and sponsors for the continued support throughout the season.