The Fort McMurray Oil Barons erased a two goal third period deficit to force overtime where Kole Gable scored to give the MOB a 4-3 win over the Bonnyville Pontiacs Saturday night.
Reed Morison found Gable heading towards the Pontiacs goal 2:20 into the extra frame and he deflected home his 19th goal of the year to send the MOB away with a wild come from behind victory.
“It was a never say die attitude for our players,” said MOB Head Coach Tom Keca. “It would have been easy to fold the tent after 40 minutes. I thought that Bonnyville carried the majority of the play but our players didn’t quit and I think the sweetest thing about the win is that every line contributed.”
Gable is now riding an 11 game point streak and has goals in six of his last seven games while Liam Izyk picked up an assist in the win to extend his point streak to seven games.
The Pontiacs (30-10-3) controlled most of the game. Out-skating the MOB (22-15-7) for certain stretches and used a pair of powerplay goals from Garin Butler and Jeremy Gervais to build up a 3-1 lead early in the third period.
“They skate a lot and sometimes it’s tough to establish something because they’re very good at moving the puck but our guys didn’t give up. When we were able to get body and create turnovers and we felt we could capitalize on that and we got fortunate,” said Keca.
Chris Curr made several acrobatic saves to keep the Barons in the game as they were heavily out shot on the night 44-23.
After Butler opened the scoring on a deflection in the second period, the MOB responded well when Tyler Maser hammered home his third goal of the season on a Barons powerplay after Taner Miller’s shot rang off the post. The MOB have now scored a powerplay goal in ten straight games.
Marc-Antoine Benoit would put the Pontiacs up 2-1 after the second period when he scored a breakaway goal after a Barons turnover at the offensive blueline.
Once Gervais scored to make it 3-1, the Pontiacs looked to shut the game down but the Barons kept patient and waited for their opportunities.
That came when Izyk slipped by a check and got the puck to Jarred White who feathered a pass across to Peter Tomaras and he made no mistake burying his 12th of the year with 7:07 remaining. The Barons tied the game 39 seconds later when Owen Kelly’s point shot was deflected in the slot by Nathan Carl to get the MOB to overtime where Gable capped off the wild comeback.
“These are the types of wins that you’re going to need as we hit the stretch and into playoffs.” said Keca.
The Barons and Pontiacs are right back at it Sunday afternoon at the RJ Lalonde Arena. Pre-game show is at 2:15 p.m. on Country 93.3.
MOB Head Coach Tom Keca on the Country 93.3 post-game show.
keca jan19
