For a second game in a row, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons held a lead in the third period but could not hold on and would lose in overtime. The Sherwood Park Crusaders tied the game up early in the third period before Garrett Clegg scored 3:33 into overtime to give the visitor’s a 4-3 win Tuesday night at the Casman Centre.
“We’re doing about 90 per cent of the work so we’re getting 90 per cent of the points, problem is we have to do 100 per cent,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca.
The MOB are 3-3-4 in their last 10 games and have lost six of those games by just one goal.
The Crusaders (15-3-2) jumped on the MOB (8-6-5) early in this game, scoring 45 seconds in as Jacob Franczak knocked in a rebound after Chris Curr bobbled the initial shot from Michael Bentz.
After the goal, the Barons settled in and began to take the play to the Crusaders. Off the rush, Nicholas McCarry hit a streaking Liam Izyk in front of the Crusaders goal. Matt Berlin made the first save but Izyk stuck with the puck and from the side of the goal, banked in a shot off Berlin to tie the game 1-1.
The Barons took the lead at the 17:25 mark when Taner Miller’s wrap-around attempt bounced all over the crease. Reed Morison and Kole Gable took swipes at the puck before it eventually found a wide open Brendan Stafford who beat Berlin up high for his 5th goal of the year.
The Crusaders would tie the game 2-2 while shorthanded off a great individual effort from Brandon Wallis who beat the Barons defenceman and then Curr on the blocker side. The shorthanded goal against was the first of the season against the MOB.
The Barons took the lead back late in the period on a powerplay when Gable found a wide open Morison in the slot. Morison fired a shot past Berlin for his league leading 15th goal of the year to put the MOB up 3-2 heading into the intermission.
Early in the third period Cody Laskosky would tie up the game after the Crusaders got the MOB running around in their own end. Chances by both teams late solved nothing as the MOB headed to overtime for an eighth time in 19 games this season.
After Gable was robbed by Berlin, the Crusaders came up ice with Carter Savoie dropping a pass to Garrett Clegg. His shot squeaked under the arm of Curr and in.
“You have to be aware at all times whether it’s the first period, second period, third period – you expect your players to be aware at all times and what the situation is and what the right play is and unfortunately I didn’t like the play that led to the last goal because it was something that we could’ve managed, it wasn’t something that they did it was something that we did,” said Keca.
The MOB and Crusaders are right back at it Wednesday night for the back half of a two game set. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Casman Centre.
“This is a little bit of a funk that we’re in and the good news is it’s not going to take one or two players to get out of this, it’s going to take an entire team and I like the steps while the results aren’t necessarily there but I like the steps that we’re taking as a team,” said Keca.
MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the Country 93.3 post-game show.
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