Colts break out offensively, Nikonovich makes 53 saves in 5-3 win over Sarnia

Barrie, Ont. — OHL Saturday night:
First Period
     1. Barrie, Lowe 1 (Lombardi, McNally) 16:44
     Penalties — Handsor Bar (high-sticking) 2:54, Dunn Sar (holding) 8:53, Sgro Sar (roughing), Figliomeni Bar (roughing) 14:44, Lammens Sar (holding) 19:41.
Second Period
     2. Barrie, Shargorodsky 1 (Yurkiw, Desiderio) 2:26
     3. Barrie, Tsherna 1 (Matousek) 8:56
     4. Barrie, Edgar 1 (Lowe, Tang) 12:47 (pp)
     5. Sarnia, Van Volsen 5 (Di Iorio, Emerton) 14:39 (pp)
     6. Sarnia, Lammens 5 (Gaughan, Manza) 17:23 (pp)
     7. Barrie, Tang 2 (Lombardi, Edgar) 17:56
     Penalties — Figliomeni Bar (hooking) 2:51, Sgro Sar (check to the head) 10:34, Challenger Sar (high-sticking) 12:19, Shargorodsky Bar (tripping) 13:31, Handsor Bar (cross-checking) 15:38, McNally Bar (delay of game) 18:30.
Third Period
     8. Sarnia, Dunn 1 (Aucoin, Katolicky) 16:22
     Penalties — Lammens Sar (holding the stick) 2:49.

Shots on goal by
Sarnia 9 26 21—56
Barrie 13 10 5—28
     Goal (shots-saves) — Sarnia: Osipenko (L,1-1-0-0)(start)(22-18), Tkach-Tkachenko(12:47 second)(6-5); Barrie: Nikonovich (W,1-1-0-0).
     Power plays (goals-chances) — Sarnia: 2-5; Barrie: 1-5.
     Referees — Connor Mallon, Andre Grougrou. Linesmen — Will Dykeman, Omar Galal.
     Attendance — 3,798 (4,195)

OTHER SCORES
Ottawa 6 Erie 1
Saginaw 3 Brampton 2 (OT)
Brantford 6 North Bay 3
Soo 3 Flint 2
Windsor 4 Owen Sound 1

Hard work and perseverance finally paid off for the Barrie Colts at Sadlon Arena on Saturday night.

Behind a breakout offensive performance at Sadlon Arena, the Colts (0-4-1-0) defeated the Sarnia Sting (3-2-1-0) 5-3 to secure their first victory of the OHL season and snap a five-game winless streak to start the year.

It was a long time coming for a young group that had been grinding through a frustrating start to the campaign.

“Yeah, definitely,” said Colts rookie forward Ben Lombardi on how good it felt to finally see the hard work translate into both offense and two points in the standings. “We’re working hard all week. No panic in our room, but we’re a hungry team, and this one feels great. We had a great morning skate, high energy, our locker room has been high energy too, and we just really wanted this.”

The victory over Sarnia was anchored by an offensive breakout that saw Barrie score five goals in a single night after being held to two goals or fewer in each of their opening five contests. In fact, had William Schneid managed to slide the puck into an empty net late in the third period, the six goals would have matched their entire combined goal output from the previous five games.

“We had six goals in the five games leading up to tonight, so it’s a process,” said Barrie head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “We’ve known that with this group, it’s going to be a process, but these guys every day, not only the games, but in practice, they’ve been getting better. We do a lot of the same drills on a daily basis, and you can just see the intensity being picked up, the understanding of the game being picked up, and it shows in our games.

“There’s still going to be some bumps on the road, for sure, but for this group to be rewarded for a good effort, after a good weekend practice, I couldn’t be prouder.”

Barrie set the tone early in the contest when Carter Lowe netted his first goal of the season, giving the home team a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission. That momentum led to an offensive outburst in the second period, where the Colts blew the game open with four goals.

The onslaught was kicked off by rookie forward Phillip Shargorodsky, who notched the first goal of his OHL career just 2:26 into the frame to make it 2-0.

Ryan Yurkiw spotted the big rookie charging to the net and sent a sharp pass toward the crease that Shargorodsky managed to tip. Sarnia goaltender Kale Osipenko caught the puck in his glove, but the Colts immediately called for a video review. Upon further inspection by the officials, it was determined that Osipenko’s glove had crossed over the goal line, confirming the goal.

“It’s a faceoff play that (assistant coach) Connor Cadaret drew up, and they executed it really well,” Smoskowitz said. “I was a little bit upset that it didn’t go in, but then, upon further review, it did go in. So, a really good job by them. Getting out to a good start and getting the fans engaged was big. These fans, they show up for us, and they want to see a show, and I feel like our guys put on a pretty good one tonight.”

The Colts didn't stop there. Dylan Tsherna added to the lead shortly after, and Eamon Edgar capitalized on a Barrie power play to extend the margin to 4-0 just past the midway point of the frame.

The three-goal flurry in a span of just over ten minutes proved to be the end of the night for Osipenko. The Colts chased him 12:47 into the second period after beating him four times on 22 shots. He was replaced in goal by Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko, who provided solid relief by stopping five of six shots the rest of the way, but the damage was already done.

The Colts’ confidence grew as they continued to find the back of the net.

“Absolutely, and that’s what happens,” Smoskowitz added. “You see, at different times of the season, these first-year players just build confidence. So, the first five games go by, they’re getting adjusted to the speed, getting adjusted to the physicality, the grind of the daily schedule, and it just gets a little bit easier every single day.

“So, some guys who might have been struggling last week, look better this week. They’re going to look better next week.”

However, the Sting refused to go down without a fight. Capitalizing on Barrie’s penalty trouble, Sarnia’s lethal power play, ranked fourth overall coming into the night, went to work late in the second period. Jack Van Volsen and Brenner Lammens struck less than three minutes apart to cut the lead to 4-2.

Just when it appeared Sarnia had grabbed all the momentum heading into the intermission, Lombardi made a brilliant individual play to restore breathing room. Working behind the Sarnia net, the rookie forward threaded a pass to Michael Tang in front, who buried it with just 33 seconds remaining in the period to make it a 5-2 game.

“That was huge,” Smoskowitz said of Tang’s late tally. “Discipline and penalties are something we’ve talked about a lot as a group the last couple of weeks. You feel that maybe it hasn’t cost us games, our penalty kill has been very strong, but it does. It’s taxing on our guys... We weren’t happy with some of the penalties tonight. I’m glad that learning a lesson from that wasn’t a loss, but we still have to get better at discipline and taking these untimely penalties, letting teams like Sarnia get back into games.”

Despite the Sting cutting the lead in half, Lombardi said the Colts didn’t hit the panic button and just continued playing their game.

“We’re just keeping morale high on the bench and just trusting the process,” he said.

The third period turned into a supreme test of composure for the young Colts squad. Sarnia pressed relentlessly in the final frame, outshooting Barrie by a lopsided 22-5 margin. Myles Dunn cut the lead to 5-3 with 3:38 remaining, setting up a frantic finish.

Having surrendered late third-period leads in their previous two outings against Oshawa and Niagara, the ghost of recent games threatened to loom over the Colts. But this time, the Colts held strong, anchored by a huge goaltending performance from Matvei Nikonovich.

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect was an absolute wall in just his second OHL start, stopping 53 of the 56 shots he faced on the night to seal the victory.

“Unbelievable,” Lombardi said of his netminder. “They had a bunch of shots, and he had a great game tonight. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without him.”

While relieved to secure the win, Smoskowitz was candid about his team’s passive play in the final 20 minutes.

“Did we win the game? Yes, we did, and we’re very happy to get the two points, but that’s another thing with a younger group, kind of going through it for the first time,” Smoskowitz explained. “Tonight, it didn’t burn us... We were most definitely on our heels again tonight.

“We got a great goaltending performance from Nikonovich, but we just have to find ways to continue to push the pace, continue to up our energy level, not change our game, not stray away from the plan, and play a third period as if it’s a 0-0 game.”

Despite the tense finish, the breakthrough win serves as a massive confidence booster for a team coming off five straight losses.

“I can talk about it every day, and we do,” Smoskowitz said on the importance of finally getting into the win column. “When we talk about the process and how we’re worried about things that aren’t necessarily the end results right now... as a team, we still want results. Every competitive athlete wants results. They want to be winning at the end of the night.

“So, are we getting desperate in this room? No. Were we panicking in this room? No. Is it nice to be rewarded? One hundred per cent. So, I’m not going to say it wasn’t bothering us, but it’s definitely nice to get our first.”

Lombardi echoed the sentiment, emphasizing that the victory is just a stepping stone.

“This is just what we needed,” Lombardi said. “We’re going to come back, and we’re going to work even harder. The big thing for us is we got to take steps every day. We can’t sit here and be like, all right, we won a game. We’ve got to go in on Monday (at practice) and work hard.”

UP NEXT

Barrie hosts the Kingston Frontenacs on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Sting are in Oshawa to face the Generals on Sunday.

LOMBARDI SETS THE STANDARD

If there was one player who embodied the all-out effort needed to snap the losing streak, it was Lombardi. The rookie forward turned in a complete performance, setting up two crucial goals — including Tang’s deflating late second-period tally — and putting his body on the line with two clutch shot blocks during Sarnia’s late push.

“I’m a high-energy player,” Lombardi said of his style. “I like to play fast, physical, and make some plays. Anything I can do to help the team out.”

Smoskowitz spoke of the tone the Cos Cob, Conn. native sets for the locker room.

“He’s just a competitor,” the head coach praised. “He’s a guy who, if you’re a winning team, you’ve got to have this guy on your team. He sets the culture; he sets the standard. Puts his body on the line every shift he’s out there, and no matter what’s going on, he’s going to give it everything he has.

“And if he gets the job done, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t, but he will never lose on account of not putting in a 100 per cent effort. And as a coach, if I have 20 guys like that, I’m going to show you a good team.”

ICE CHIPS

Former Colt blueliner Cole Emerton made his first return to the Sadlon Arena since he was dealt to the Sting back in the summer. The Oro-Medonte native had an assist in the loss and now has a goal and five points in six games with Sarnia. Barrie native and Sting teammate Logan Hawery was held off the scoresheet.

Tang recorded a goal and assist, and now has two goals and three points in his last three games.

Rookie blueliner Declan McNally and import rookie Elias Matousek each drew an assist for their first OHL career points.

Tsherna’s goal was his first as a Colt.