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MOB battle back in 3rd but fall in shootout to Oilers

Fort McMurray Oil Barons take on the Okotoks Oilers/Dan Lines Photography

The Fort McMurray Oil Barons battled to the bitter end Saturday night in Okotoks scoring two goals in the third period to force overtime but ultimately fell 3-2 in a shootout to the Oilers.

Reed Morison scored with 8.1 seconds left in the third period to force overtime but the MOB couldn’t beat Brady Parker in the shootout while Blake Wells scored the lone goal of the shootout in the 6th round to hand the Oil Barons a second straight loss.

The shootout has not been the kindest to the Oil Barons (16-10-7) this season as they fell to 2-4 in the skills competition.

“We’re never out of any game and with all the overtime losses and one goal losses when we want to play we’re good and today when we kept it simple and got pucks deep and to the net we were good but when we turned pucks over we’re going to struggle and against a good team like Okotoks they’ll make you pay on any turnover,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca.

The Oil Barons did well to get to get to the shootout as they held the Oilers (19-13-1) in check after they jumped out to a 2-0 first period lead.

Quinn Olson and Jack Works beat Chris Curr in the first period but that was all that would beat Curr who made 35 saves in the game including several spectacular stops in overtime.

“He goes about his business and he makes some huge stops for our hockey club and it’s a cliché but he gives us an opportunity to get a point,” said Keca on Curr.

The Barons continued to work and throw pucks towards the Oiler goal and finally broke through with 8:15 left in the final frame. Peter Tomaras took a shot after taking a drop pass from Morison. His shot hit a leg and went right to Taner Miller who wired a shot past Parker to cut the lead to 2-1.

The Oilers were on the verge of killing out the clock before the Oil Barons were able to gain control and race up ice with 25 seconds left. They set up in the Oilers zone as Curr dashed to the bench. Morison came on as the extra attacker and Miller spotted him all alone at the side of the goal. Morison popped in his 26th of the year to send the game to overtime.

“We told our players keep throwing things at the net and good things will happen,” said Keca. “You get rewarded on the first one on a broken play that comes right to Miller and he pots it and then you pull your goalie in the last minute and I was a little worried we weren’t going to get the puck out of our own zone with about 45 seconds left but we get it down and there’s no body else on our team I’d rather have the puck on his stick than Reed Morison and he pots it and gets us a much deserved point.”

The Barons will look to finish up the road trip and head into the Christmas break on a winning note as they meet the Calgary Mustangs for the first time this season on Sunday. You can catch all the action on Country 93.3 beginning with the pre-game show at 2:15 p.m.