Wrapping up a busy stretch of games, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons took the Camrose Kodiaks to the fifth round of the shootout before knocking off the hottest team in the AJHL 3-2 Saturday night at the Casman Centre.
Jack Hamly scored the shootout winner while Chris Curr stopped all five Kodiak shooters as the MOB picked up their tenth win of the season to bring their record to 10-7-5.
The Kodiaks picked up at least a point for a ninth straight game as they have gone 7-0-2 during that stretch.
“I’m happy for the guys, this was a tough stretch when you not only look at six games in eight days but you look at the quality of the teams we played – for us to get eight points out of 12 I think that’s a huge step forward for us,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca as the team went 3-1-2 over the six games.
The Barons jumped on the Kodiaks early as 4:54 into the first period Jarred White picked up the puck in front of the Kodiaks goal and with a quick move to the backhand tucked in his third goal of the year.
“I thought that he played extremely well and it was great for him to get rewarded on a nice skill play finally and he illustrated that he does have some skill which is a bonus for us,” said Keca on White.
The MOB doubled their lead in the middle frame off a two-on-one rush. Kole Gable dished to Brendan Stafford who went bar down on Roddy Ross to put the MOB up 2-0 just past the mid-way point.
Similar to last weekend when these two teams met in Camrose, the Kodiaks would chip away at the Oil Barons lead and a powerplay goal from Dawson Schwengler in the final minute of the period cut the MOB lead in half.
The Barons kept the Kodiaks at bay until the final five minutes of the game when the Kodiaks would strike to tie the game. Colson Gengenbach walked out of the corner and was allowed to get a shot off that beat Curr to make it 2-2.
The Barons headed to overtime for a league leading ninth time this season. Taner Miller had two great chances early on but the MOB were unable to beat Ross.
“Full credit to our players we didn’t get down, our players stayed positive on the bench and we continued to press in the last four minutes and had two good chances in overtime,” said Keca.
In the shootout, Curr and Ross were perfect through four rounds before Hamly beat Ross through the five hole. Dylan Williamson had to score to prolong the shootout but his shot was sent high over the net sending the 1,342 in attendance at the Casman Centre home happy.
Next up for the MOB they will head out on the road for a three game trip that will see them take on Whitecourt on Friday and Grande Prairie Saturday and Sunday.
MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the Country 93.3 post-game show.
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