Storm forward Austin Schellenberg against the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Photo Credit: Shane Clausing

By Shane Clausing

Storm lose back to back

Storm drop back to back games against Oil Barons

Jan 26, 2020 | 10:02 AM

The Grande Prairie Storm dropped both games of their two-game homestand Friday and Saturday night to the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.

On Friday the team was able to strike first with a goal coming from Jackson Wozniak early in the first.

Shortly after the Oil Barons responded with goals from Josh Zinger and Breydon Berthold to put the Oil Barons up 2-1 after the first.

In the second period, Bordy Dale would add one on the powerplay to even things up at 2-2.

The third period saw no scoring and a shootout was needed. In the shootout, Michael Hodge would score the only goal to give the Oil Barons the 3-2 win.

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“I thought we were tired, and we made a lot of tired mental errors throughout the game. I really liked our third period and thought our compete was really good. We got to have a short memory now and get ready for tomorrow night,” said coach Ryan Aasman.

Saturday night saw the Storm finish an exhausting four games in five days stretch. The Storm fell 4-3 in the shootout to the Oil Barons.

While the group was tired from the busy stretch, they played terrific in the first two periods.

In the first, the Storm finally saw their powerplay click. Ethan Strang and Brett Meerman would both add goals on the man advantage to give the team a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.

In the second, Austin Schellenberg was able to snipe home his sixth of the season on the powerplay to make it 3-0 Storm

The Storm dominated the possession and play in the first two periods and didn’t look like the tired team. The team finished the night going a perfect three for three on the powerplay.

In the third period, however, the Oil Barons woke up. Brendan Stafford would slip home a goal 3:57 into the period to put the Barons on the powerplay.

Shortly after the goal, Schellenberg would head to the box for tripping, where the Oil Barons would make the Storm pay. Michael Hodge would score on the powerplay to make it 3-2 just two minutes after the first goal.

All of a sudden, a game dominated by the Storm was slipping away.

With eight minutes to play, Will Schimek would head to the box for hooking and put the Oil Barons back on the powerplay.

On the powerplay, Konrad Belcourt would add the goal for the Oil Barons to tie the game up. The goal came with some controversy, as Storm goaltender Lars Kaliel was visibly upset at the referee, arguing that his mask was loose before the puck entered the net and the play should’ve been blown down.

The ref didn’t notice it, the goal would stand, and the game would head to a shootout for the second straight night, following a scoreless three on three overtime period.

In the shootout, Michael Hodge would score the only and give the Oil Barons the come from behind victory 4-3.

“I think just being at the tail end of a four in five, I don’t think we had our legs. I think a lot of complacency set in and I think we thought it was going to be easy. It was good to see our powerplay click for the first time in a while, but we got to find ways to score five on five, and guys need to bear down,” said Aasman.

The Storm will return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Whitecourt to face the Wolverines. They’ll return home next Friday when they host the Sherwood Park Crusaders.