The Barrie Colts had their team bus parked at the back door of Sadlon Arena in case a late-night run to the nation’s capital was needed for Game 6 on Sunday.
Thanks to another strong effort on home ice, no trip was necessary.
Cole Beaudoin continued his torrid playoff scoring pace with a pair of goals and three points, and Kashawn Aitcheson and Emil Hemming each provided late insurance markers as the Colts eliminated the Ottawa 67’s with a 4-1 win, Saturday night, in front of a sell-out crowd of 4,239.
Barrie takes the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series in five games and will now face the Brantford Bulldogs in the Eastern Conference Final, beginning Wednesday night in “The Telephone City.”
“It’s obviously big to finish that one at home,” said Beaudoin, who has recorded a point in all of Barrie’s 10 playoff games and leads all OHL post-season scorers with seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points. “It would have been a quick turnaround to go there and play in Ottawa, so I’m glad that we finished that off.”
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If the 67’s stretched the series, the Colts planned to bus to Kingston after the game, spend the night there, and then drive to Ottawa on Sunday.
“We talked about it at the morning skate. Nobody wanted to get back on that bus,” said Colts assistant coach Dennis Martindale. “We knew it was going to be a hard game. Ottawa’s a good team, a well-coached team, but the guys came through.
“They played a good 60 minutes. We played 57 good minutes last game, and this one was a full 60.”
This marks the second-straight year Barrie has advanced to the conference final. Last season, they were swept in four games by the Oshawa Generals.
“Last year in four games, that was pretty disappointing,” said Martindale of the sweep. “That’s definitely not what we want to do this year. We know what’s coming, though. We know Brantford is a really good team.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to have to be extra prepared to know what’s coming. The work starts now. We don’t want a repeat of last year, that’s for sure.”
Leading the way in the clinching win over Ottawa, as they often do, was Barrie’s big trio of first-round NHL picks.
There was Beaudoin (Utah Mammoth) setting the pace with the game’s first two goals, and playing his usual power game. There was Aitcheson (New York Islanders), parked in his usual offence at the top of the faceoff circle, hammering home yet another one-timer on the power play, while delivering another handful of bone-crunching hits.
Then there was Hemming (Dallas Stars), racing back to break up a couple of big Ottawa scoring chances, before winning a race down the ice to prevent an icing and putting the puck into the empty net to seal the win.
“We know they’re first-round picks for a reason,” said Martindale of the trio, who have combined for 18 goals and 53 points in 10 playoff games. “They do the right thing every single night. They just play the game the right way. It’s easy to tell that they are first-round picks because of the way they play the game.”
Desperate and fighting for their playoff lives, the 67’s came out strong in the opening period, peppering Ben Hrebik with 15 shots.
Still, it was the Colts who came away from the first with the lead when Beaudoin took advantage of a Mason Zebeski screen in front of 67’s goalie Ryder Fetterolf and fired one over his right pad from just inside the blue line at 13:25.
Barrie opened the scoring in all five games in the series.
“I think it was big to get the first goal,” said Beaudoin. “That helps our group a lot, just being up and not chasing. It was really big.”
The 67’s continued to push into the second, but Hrebik stood strong, and the Colts added to the lead at 13:36 when Hemming dug a loose puck out of a scramble along the boards and fed Beaudoin in front, who fired it over the left shoulder of Fetterolf.
“I think we stayed patient throughout the whole game,” said Beaudoin of Barrie capitalizing on its opportunities. “We waited for our chances and were well-structured in the defensive zone and made sure not to give up too much.”
Ottawa got one back a little more than four minutes later when a Barrie turnover led to a two-man breakaway. Thomas Vandenberg fed it across to Nic Whitehead and the visitors were back within one.
The game remained tight until the Colts’ power play took advantage of a costly checking to the head penalty by the 67’s Sam McCue with 7:01 remaining.
Cole Emerton, with his second setup of the night, slid it down to Aitcheson, and the Colts defender drove the one-timer past Fetterolf. The goal was reviewed for goalie interference, but the important insurance marker stood.
Barrie’s top-ranked playoff power play had its 16th goal on 33 chances, and seventh in 17 opportunities in the series against Ottawa.
“It was huge,” said Martindale of the insurance marker. “Kash was big for us in that spot all year. It was just a team effort. It was great. Both units are cooking. It’s fun to have two units that you can throw out there. They do the right things.
“That whole unit, they’ve been great all year.”
Hemming, who also had an assist on the night, sealed it with the net empty at 17:54.
“It’s super exciting,” said Beaudoin of advancing to the conference finals. “This is what we’ve been looking forward to since last year. Since training camp, this has been our goal. I’m proud of this group, but the job is not finished.”
UP NEXT
The Colts split the season-series with the Bulldogs 2-2. They are well aware of the challenge facing them against the OHL’s regular-season champions, but Beaudoin says they’ll be ready for Game 1 on Wednesday.
“Yeah, be happy in the moment now, and then we’ve got to flip the page and move on to Brantford,” he said. “Focus on little adjustments, but again, focus on our game and not focus too much on them and what they’ve been doing.
“Just focus on what we can control, how we play, and play Barrie Colts hockey.”
ICE CHIPS
Hrebik has now made eight-straight starts in goal.
Ottawa outshot Barrie 34-25, while the home team dominated in the faceoff circle. The Colts won 36 draws, and the 67’s 23.
Jonah McCormick returned to the lineup for Eamon Edgar after being out the previous three games.
Emerton was outstanding all night, pitching in with two assists on offence, while being a force in his own end.
The 67’s scratched former Barrie minor midget Brock Chitaroni for a second-straight game.
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
SCHEDULE
GM 1: Wed., Apr. 22 - Colts vs. Brantford, 7 p.m.
GM 2: Fri., Apr. 24 – Colts vs. Brantford, 7 p.m.
GM 3: Sun., Apr. 26 – Bulldogs vs. Barrie, 6 p.m.
GM 4: Tue., Apr. 28 – Bulldogs vs. Barrie, 7 p.m.
GM 5: Thur., Apr. 30 – Colts vs. Brantford, 7 p.m.*
GM 6: Sat., May 2 – Bulldogs vs. Barrie, 7:30 p.m.*
GM 7: Mon., May 4 – Colts vs. Brantford, 7 p.m.*
· - if necessary
