It didn’t take a fired-up Kashawn Aitcheson long in his return to the Barrie Colts lineup Tuesday night to get back to his usual routine of dishing out big-time hits and scoring big goals.
The New York Islanders’ top prospect wasted little time in making an impact, nailing Ivan Galiyanov with a massive first-period hit and then hammering home a one-timer on the power play for the eventual game-winner late in the second to help lead the Colts to a 5-2 win over the Niagara IceDogs in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at the Meridian Centre.
The Colts now lead the best-of-seven matchup 2-1 and can take a stranglehold in Game 4, scheduled for Thursday night back in St. Catharines at 7 p.m.
“Oh yeah, it was the hardest two games to watch,” said Aitcheson, who was chomping at the bit after being disciplined for exceeding the league’s fighting threshold in the team’s final regular-season game. “Not by our team in any means, but by watching my brothers go to war and me not being able to have their backs.
“It was the best feeling being out here and battling with these guys. I’m just excited to do it for another two months.”
One guy certainly happy to see Aitcheson return to his usual routine out there was Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. He knew just how much his star defenceman hated not being in the lineup.
“Oh man, sometimes he was in the hallway just yelling, even though he wasn’t playing,” said Smoskowitz with a huge grin. “He was all over the place, but it’s always fun to see No. 77 out there doing his thing.”
After former Colt Riley Patterson tied the game 2-2 midway through the second, Aitcheson, in a familiar fashion, would step up in a big way for his team.
With the Colts on the power play, and Aitcheson parked in his regular office at the top of the opposite faceoff circle, Brad Gardiner put it on a tee for the OHL’s top-scoring defenceman this season.
Niagara goaltender Vladislav Yermolenko slid across the crease, but Aitcheson’s howitzer flew up over his glove into the top corner.
“Anywhere you put it, I’ll get it off,” said Aitcheson, who led the OHL blueliners with 28 goals and 70 points in 56 games. “What I definitely try to focus on is that spot.
“Get it off as quickly as you can. Catch the goalie by surprise, and my shot being pretty hard helps a little bit, too.”
Coming off a 4-3 overtime loss at home last Saturday, Aitcheson’s return proved to be just the boost his team needed.
“He’s an emotional leader for us, and having Kash back in the lineup for us was big, not only for that goal, not only for the time he spent on the us, but even what he brings to the bench,” said Smoskowitz. “He brought energy. He brought life to our room, and the guys fed off that.
“I think he’s going to start to feel better as the series goes on, and as he gets more reps. It’s a long time off the ice for him, but it was a pretty good start for him tonight.”
Ben Wilmott and Gardiner, each with a goal and two assists, Emil Hemming, and Joe Salandra also scored for the Colts, who dominated the first period, outshooting Niagara 20-3, to grab a 2-1 lead.
“I loved our start,” said Smoskowitz. “I really liked our entire first period, giving up three shots. We generated offence. We played hard. We finished checks. Took care of the puck.”
Down 3-2 at the end of the second period, an unsportsmanlike penalty to Yermolenko would prove costly for the IceDogs. The Niagara starter bumped Barrie goaltender Ben Hrebik as he was heading off the ice, giving the visitors a power play to start the third.
Salandra would make them pay when he ripped a shot over Yermolenko’s right pad just 1:16 into the frame. Wilmott would then seal it for the Colts with an empty-net goal with 2:11 remaining.
“It was huge,” Smoskowitz said of taking advantage of the penalty to Yermolenko. “Discipline is a big thing. We preach that to our guys every single day, pretty much.”
The specialty units came up big for Barrie in this one. The power play was 2-for-4.
“(Assistant coach Dennis Martindale) has done a great job with our power play,” said Smoskowitz. “He’s really found a way to get these guys clicking, and I love having two units. I love having 10 guys to make the opposition pre-scout two units.
“It’s tough to do. I know that as a former penalty-killing coach myself. It’s always tough when you have to watch 10 guys instead of five guys, so both units are really doing well for us.”
Barrie’s penalty killers also came up big, holding Niagara scoreless on four chances, including three full minutes after a five-minute major, fighting instigator and game misconduct to Calvin Crombie on a check from behind on Haydon Reid early in the second.
“When you play on the line, as our team does — and we encourage guys to play on that line but not cross it — sometimes you’re going to take a bad penalty or the refs are going to make a call,” said Smoskowitz.
“I thought tonight the guys did a really good job of killing off the ones we needed to.”
Barrie heads into Thursday night with an opportunity to put the IceDogs on the brink of elimination and a chance to wrap up the series early back at home on Saturday.
“I think we’re going to treat every game in this series, and in all series, like it’s our last,” said Aitcheson. “It’s just about getting four wins. Every game is just as important as the last.
“After a win or a loss, feel good or feel crap, we’ll look forward to the next game, and get the next game.”
For Smoskowitz, it’s time to forget about the win and move on to Game 4.
“We’re going to take it easy in practice (Wednesday), go over some film and tell the guys what we think is important that they can build off of going into Thursday, and come back here with the same mindset that we had tonight,” he said.
“We’re out here to break some hearts.”
ICE CHIPS: Noah Reed had the other goal for Niagara, tying the game at 1-1 just 28 seconds after Gardiner had opened the scoring later in the first. . . The IceDogs hit two crossbars late in the second when they were trailing 3-2, including one a pretty backhanded move by rookie Ryerson Edgar. . . Barrie outshot Niagara 36-18. . . Crombie’s hit is likely to be reviewed by the league. . . The chippy affair almost boiled over twice in the game, including late when Reyth Smith jumped Cole Emerton. . . Niagara’s Ethan Czata served the first of his two-game slew-footing suspension. . . The bad blood between Hrebik and Yermolenko is nothing new. The two almost got into a goalie fight earlier this season. . . Wilmott backhanded one off the crossbar midway through the first.
