The Bobcats scored the first and last goals of the game but came up short in Fort McMurray on Tuesday night, as they surrendered four second period goals, losing by a score of 4-2.
The Lloydminster Bobcats were looking to get back in to the winning column on Tuesday night as they travelled to Fort McMurray to take on the Oil Barons. Coming into the game the Bobcats were sitting at 18-14-4, 3rd in the North Division Standings, two points ahead of 4th place Whitecourt Wolverines. The second place team in the North Division, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons were 28-4-2 on the year and have been battling the Spruce Grove Saints for North Division supremacy all season long. This game would be delayed by half an hour, eventually the puck would drop at 8:00 PM local time.
Fort McMurray went down two men early on, and the Bobcats capitalized on the 5 on 3 power-play. Linden Springer scored by throwing the puck towards the net in traffic, helpers from Austin McDonald and Braden Crone. 1-0 Bobcats just under two minutes into the game. The Bobcats would continue to pressure Oil Barons’ goalie Tanner Jaillet, leading on the shot chart 14-6 after the first period. 1-0 after 20 minutes.
Just 19 seconds into the second period, Fort McMurray’s Jetlan Houcher would tie things up 1-1 then two minutes later Houcher would be give the Oil Barons a 2-1 lead on the power-play. Fort McMurray would add another from Louis Joseph Sawyer, to make it 3-1, forcing the Bobcats to take a time-out. Before the second period would end, Fort McMurray added another to makes it 4-1 from a goal scored by Mitchell Vanderlaan. After two periods, Bobcats down 4-1.
Bobcats would get one back in the third period as Nolan Yaremchuk scored thanks to some bounces off bodies in front of the net, but that’s as close as the ‘Cats would get tonight, losing 4-2 in Fort McMurray.
The 'Cats outshot the Oil Barons 37-17, Devin Green made 13 of 17 stops and took the loss. The Bobcats now go to 18-15-4 on the year, but remain in 3rd place in the North Division standings.
GM/Coach Garry VanHereweghe says you can't beat or compete against one of the top ranked teams in Canada without a near flawless 60 minutes, “after the long haul to Fort McMurray I felt we came out with an abundance of speed and energy, capturing the 1-0 lead after one period. In the second period a sluggish start resulted in The Barons lighting the scoreboard up for 3 unanswered goals. From that point on The Bobcats resumed their previous style of play and took control of the game once again.”
After the game the Bobcats headed home, but hit the road again for a pair of road games down south starting in Calgary against the Canucks on Friday, then on Saturday against the Canmore Kodiaks to cap off their 2013 calendar year before the Christmas break.