They say history is doomed to repeat itself.
The Dragons found that out the hard way when they returned to action Wednesday night in Fort McMurray, after taking some time off for the holidays, in a rematch against the Oil Barons. The Dragons came away with a 2-1 shootout loss.
The two teams met prior to the holidays, on December 20, with the Dragons being dealt a 1-0 shootout loss.
Like their previous meeting, Wednesday’s game started with both teams locked in a stalemate. After the first period, neither team could get past the high caliber performances of both goalies.
Tempers exploded 13 minutes into the second period after Matt Purmal of the Oil Barons was called for checking from behind. Hunter Mills and Adam Danyluk of the Dragons, and two Oil Barons were handed penalties for fighting and slapped for misconduct.
It might have been the spark that was needed, because only seconds later, Tyler Kerner, off of Christopher Rauckman and Dakota Zaharichuk, scored the Dragons’ only goal of the night and put them ahead 1-0.
The Dragons held on to their lead until Mitchell Cook was called for checking from behind and given a game misconduct. The penalty put the Dragons into a short handed situation with only 11 minutes left in the game.
The Oil Barons pounced on the opportunity. Forty seconds into the penalty kill, the Oil Barons finally broke through the Dragons’ defence and the solid goaltending of Adam Beukeboom. The goal tied the game up at one apiece.
From there, neither team could take the upper hand and the game went into a scoreless overtime. Like their last meeting, only a shootout could declare the victor.
The Dragons sent out Colton Vannucci, Ryan Bloom, and Christopher Rauckman. None could penetrate the Oil Barons’ net.
Beukeboom stone-walled the first two shooters, but the final shooter broke through, giving the Oil Barons the victory.
The Dragons still earned a point from the game and are currently tied with the Okotoks Oilers at 42 apiece.
The team will be looking to break away from the Oilers over the weekend when they take on the Bonnyville Pontiacs tonight and the Lloydminster Bobcats tomorrow evening. They then will return home on Wednesday, January 9, to host the rival Oilers.
