The Fort McMurray Oil Barons didn’t allow a slow start to stop them from roaring back to a 6-4 win over the visiting Camrose Kodiaks Saturday night at the Casman Centre.
The Kodiaks (15-18-11) took a 2-0 lead 5:33 into the first period but the Oil Barons (32-7-3) scored four unanswered goals before the period was out and never looked back.
“Not every painting has be a Picasso and this was definitely a finger paint or a paint by numbers but at the end of the day I’m happy we got the win,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on his team’s performance. “We’ve got a little bit of a fragile group especially after yesterday (loss to Brooks).”
“Through the course of the year you go through some ups and downs and times where you question yourself as a coach and as a team and you’re wondering what you’re doing and I thought that there just wasn’t a lot of flow especially in our defensive zone. By our count we gave up 20 scoring chances and if it wasn’t for Chris Curr it might’ve been a different result.”
Curr made 29 saves in picking up his 13th win of the season and after a shaky start where he allowed two goals on the first three shots he faced, he settled in and made the saves when the Barons needed him too.
Carson Welke and Tyler Schendel scored for the Kodiaks before the MOB scored four straight beginning with Curtis Roach when he picked off a pass in the high slot and beat Griffin Bowerman for his third goal of the year.
“I think Curtis Roach was outstanding, a couple times he just took the puck, carried it out of our zone and attacked their blueline and kept those guys on their heels,” said Keca of Roach who now has 12 points in his past seven games.
Will Conley would tie the game 2-2 with a powerplay goal at 14:02 when he received a drop pass from Roach and drove hard to the goal on his off wing and roofed a shot up under the crossbar. The goal was Conley’s 31st of the season and was just his first powerplay goal of the year.
The MOB took their first lead moments later when Reed Morison picked up the puck in his own zone and went end to end, firing a shot into the top corner. Morison now has nine goals in his last seven games.
Another rush up ice from Conley would set up the MOB’s fourth goal with just five seconds left in the period. The 20 year old raced down the left wing and spotted Nicholas Leeseberg racing to the far post. Leeseberg chipped in the pass and now has goals in four of his past five games.
The Kodiaks weren’t going away as they cut the lead to 4-3, 20 seconds into the second period when Ryan McKinnon beat Curr off the post and in.
The Oil Barons would restore their two goal lead at 12:32 of the second period when Conley buried his second goal of the game just as an Oil Barons powerplay was ending. Conley picked up the puck just inside his own zone and as he crossed the Kodiaks blueline rifled a shot off both goal posts and in. Conley extended his point streak to nine games with a 3 point night and has 8 goals and 14 points in that stretch.
Peter Kope would cut the lead down to one again with a powerplay goal 7:51 into the third period for the Kodiaks before Morison scored his second goal of the game on a two-on-one to put the MOB up 6-4. With a three point night, Reed Morison hit the 50 point mark on the season and sits 8th in league scoring.
The Oil Barons finish up their five game homestand against the Bonnyville Pontiacs Tuesday night at the Casman Centre.
MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the Country 93.3 Post-Game Show.
Jan20
