FORT MCMURRAY, AB (October 18, 2014) – Anthony Orubor (Calgary, AB) had his first AJHL goal, and Jayden Sittler (Red Deer, AB) had his first AJHL shutout, as the Fort McMurray Oil Barons (9-7-2) blanked the Calgary Mustangs (3-11) 2-0.
The first period yielded no scoring, but wasn't lacking in physicality.
The Mustangs lost Mason Mitchell for twelve minutes after a high hit to the head of Ryan Gruszka (Belle River, ON), and then lost Chandler Irvin for the remainder of the game, after he drilled Shawn Weber (Lloydminster, AB) from behind into the corner boards.
But the Mustangs killed off a huge five-on-three advantage, to keep things scoreless after 1.
But the Barons got on the board in the second, when the rebound off a Danton Ayotte (Wetaskiwin, AB) backhander found Orubor, who tucked it in under Ravi Dattani to give the MOB the 1-0 lead.
The scoring continued just under five minutes later with the Barons on a powerplay, when Austin Holmes (Calgary, Alberta) buried a rebound for his second goal on the year, extending the Barons' lead to 2-0.
In the third, the Mustangs poured on the offence, putting up 20 shots and multiple scoring chances.
But Sittler stood on his head, making a total of 36 saves for the shutout, while also picking up his second win of the season.
Dattani made 43 saves in a losing effort for the Mustangs.
Head coach Curtis Hunt said he liked the turnaround his team showed after losing to the Mustangs last weekend.
“This was a winnable game. And the tendency like you saw in Calgary, was to go casual and just assume that we would get it done just because we showed up. So I like the way we worked, we took the pucks to the net,” he said.
As for Sittler, he said the atmosphere at the Casman Centre made starting on home ice that much more motivating.
“I was really excited to start today. I've seen the crowd the last couple games at home here, and I wanted to just get in the net and hear them roar and make a nice save. It helps a lot with that crowd,” he said.
Up next for the Barons, they take to the road October 24-25, where they play back-to-back games in Lloydminster against the Bobcats.
Puck drop for both games is 7:30, you can catch the game starting with the pre-game show at 7:15 on KAOS 91.1
KAOS 91.1 3 stars:
1. Jayden Sittler (36 save shutout)
2. Brett McNeil (1 assist)
3. Anthony Orubor (1 game-winning goal)