Opening weekend saw the Oil Barons split a two game set on the road in Lloydminster. The MOB fell on opening night 4-2, before shutting out the Bobcats 4-0 on Saturday. Fort McMurray got goals from six different players, while Logan Cunningham earned the shutout and posted a .950 save percentage.
The Oil Barons started strong on Friday. Three and a half minutes into the game, a wrist shot from Trennen Redlick squeezed its way through the five hole of Sam Madgett for Fort McMurray’s first goal of the 2025/26 campaign. The lead lasted less than three minutes. Coming out of the media timeout, Esteban Cinq Mars let a shot go that fooled Cunningham, tying the game at 1-1. Cunningham made two highlight reel saves to keep the scoreline even heading into the intermission, however, Lloydminster took over the lead in the second period. While on the power-play, Matthew Hikidia made it 2-1 in favor of the Bobcats . The Richmond, BC product got free in the slot for a one-timer that Cunnigham had no chance on. Cinq Mars scored his second goal of the game, this time a one timer that slid under the pad of Cunningham to make it 3-1. Halfway through the third period, the Bobcats increased their lead to 4-1. After winning a board battle, Jack Ferguson stepped into the left faceoff circle where he picked the top corner of the net. Fort McMurray wrapped up the scoring on Friday. With less than a minute to go, Jaggar John was sprung on a breakaway by Cash Brebant, and John tucked the puck five hole on Madgett for his first career AJHL goal.
The MOB came out flying in Saturday’s contest. A minute into the game, Cody Nordstrom let fly a wrist shot from the blue line that found its way through a crowd and in. Then, two minutes later, Justin Dumais jammed home a bouncing puck off an offensive zone faceoff, and the Barons led 2-0 through 20 minutes of play. Fort McMurray continued to add to their lead in the second period. While on the power-play, Cade Petersen unleashed a shot that beat a screened Madgett, making it 3-0 Oil Barons. Willem Terwoord increased the visitor’s lead to 4-0. While on a 2-on-1, Terwoord rifled a shot short side on Madgett, for his third career junior hockey goal. The third period saw Fort McMurray shut down the game, despite being down to four defencemen (with Nordstrom and Jason Walia involved in fights) and being on the penalty kill three separate times, earning the weekend split.
Fort McMurray will wrap up their season opening four game road trip next weekend. They will reunite North Division hostilities with the Devon Xtreme on Friday, before battling the Whitecourt Wolverines on Saturday. Both games start at 7pm.
