The Whitecourt Wolverines are moving on to the second round of the 2024/25 Inter Pipeline Alberta Junior Hockey League Playoffs.
The Wolverines defeated the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 2-1 in overtime on Friday, March 28.
Despite the Wolverines outshooting the Oil Barons 11-6 in the first period, neither team was able to score a goal in the opening frame.
Tim Kim scored the first goal of the game for the Wolverines at 13:09 of the second period. Kim’s second goal of the series was assisted by Jalen Bianchet and Dylan Ruptash.
At the end of the second period, the Whitecourt Wolverines had outshot the Fort McMurray Oil Barons 15-9 and took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission.
Justin Dumais scored a power play goal at 3:34 in the third period to tie the game 1-1 for the Oil Barons. Dumais’ first goal of the series was assisted by Shawn Eliav and Dustin Good.
The Wolverines once again outshot the Oil Barons 8-7 in the third, but were unable to break the tie in regulation, leading to an overtime frame.
Jalen Bianchet secured the 2-1 win for the Wolverines just 3:49 into overtime. Bianchet’s second goal of the series was assisted by Ewan McPherson and Noah Milford and sent the Wolverines to the next round of the playoffs.
Both teams put four shots on net in the overtime frame but the Wolverines outshot the Oil Barons 38-26 in total.
Fort McMurray Oil Barons’ goaltender Vincent Fillion made 36 saves on the 38 shots he faced.
Whitecourt Wolverines’ goaltender Zac Onyskiw made 25 saves on the 26 shots he faced in support of the Wolverines’ 2-1 victory.
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The Wolverines will now face off against the Grande Prairie Storm for round two, which has been scheduled to begin on Friday, April 4, in Whitecourt. The Wolverines had a record of 3-1-0-1 against the Grande Prairie Storm in the regular season.
Tickets can be purchased on the Whitecourt Wolverines website and you can catch all the action live on XM105FM, home of the Whitecourt Wolverines.
Elsewhere in the league, the Calgary Canucks eliminated the Camrose Kodiaks with a 5-2 victory on Friday, March 28, and the Drumheller Dragons and Canmore Eagles will play game seven of their series on Tuesday, April 1.
