Colts searching for answers after losing 6-0 to Peterborough, their second straight shutout loss

Peterborough, Ont. — OHL Saturday night:
First Period
     1. Peterborough, Dennis 5 (McCallum, Karmiris) 11:36
     Penalties — Desiderio Bar (slashing) 19:41.
Second Period
     2. Peterborough, Novotný 5 (Dennis, Kolarik) 1:07 (pp)
     3. Peterborough, Karmiris 2 (Novotný) 4:23 (pp)
     4. Peterborough, Dennis 6 (Novotný, Lutz) 16:13 (pp)
     5. Peterborough, Novotný 6 (Dennis, Lutz) 16:55 (pp)
     Penalties — Testa Bar (hit to the head) 2:46, Passmore Bar (tripping) 7:41, Lombardi Bar (roughing), Perreault Pbo (roughing) 14:59, Tang Bar (double high-sticking) 15:37.
Third Period
     6. Peterborough, Novotný 7 (Lutz, Karmiris) 12:50 (pp)
     Penalties — Clarke Pbo (cross-checking) 7:57, Gauvreau Bar (delay of game) 12:27, Figliomeni Bar (unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct), Lombardi Bar (unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct), Passmore Bar (unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct), Shargorodsky Bar (roughing), Hartnell Pbo (roughing), Minsky Pbo (unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct), Roulston Pbo (cross-checking, unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct), Young Pbo (unsportsmanlike conduct misconduct) 18:01, McCallum Pbo (cross-checking) 18:09.

Shots on goal by
Barrie 6 9 7—22
Peterborough 4 15, 11—30
     Goal (shots-saves) — Barrie: Bach (L,0-6-1-0)(start)(19-14), Nikonovich (0:00 third)(11-10); Peterborough: Koprowski (W,3-2-0-0).
     Power plays (goals-chances) — Barrie: 0-3; Peterborough: 5-6.
     Referees — Matt Boulby, Lacey Senuk. Linesmen — Adam Burnett, Brent Lace.
     Attendance — 3,794 (3,729)

OTHER SCORES
London 7 Erie 1
Brampton 5 Kingston 2
Flint 3 Owen Sound 2
Ottawa 3 Oshawa 2 (OT)
Saginaw 7 Sarnia 4

The Barrie Colts couldn’t buy a goal on Saturday, and they couldn’t stay out of the penalty box long enough to find one.

Adam Novotný made them pay for nearly every infraction, exploding for a hat trick and five power-play points to lead the Peterborough Petes to a 6-0 rout at Peterborough Memorial Centre.

Shut out for the second consecutive night, the Colts have now gone nearly 140 minutes without lighting the lamp. The demoralizing defeat — their fifth in a row — sinks Barrie (1-9-1-0) to the bottom of the Ontario Hockey League standings.

“No one’s feeling sorry for themselves on our side,” said Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “We know exactly what we have to do, and we know what our standard is. A game like Friday against Brantford, we felt pretty good about our effort and execution, but we didn’t get the results and ran into a hot goaltender.

“It is what it is tonight. You know, maybe you don’t feel as good about the effort, the execution, or the discipline, but no one’s sitting here thinking we’re never going to score again. No one’s sitting here thinking they’re not good hockey players. It’s a positive group. It’s a tight-knit group. The brotherhood in Barrie is very strong.”

While the Colts have struggled mightily on offence — their 19 goals in 11 games are a league worst — their lack of discipline, especially in the second period, did them no favours.

Peterborough (5-7-0-0) scored on five of its six power-play chances on the night, with four of those markers coming in the middle frame.

“It’s hard to win when the goals aren’t coming, but we didn’t do ourselves any favors by taking all these soft penalties,” said Smoskowitz. “And when I say soft, I don’t mean soft calls. I mean, just soft. It’s not like you went through somebody too hard, or skated back so hard and hit a guy, and they called a penalty on that.

“Just lazy stick penalties against a team with all this offensive firepower — who likes to play on the power play — will kill you. So, it’s a hard lesson to learn tonight.”

The parade to the penalty box in the second period also spoiled what had been a solid start to the contest for Barrie. Despite giving up a goal to Cooper Dennis — his first of two on the night — in the opening 20 minutes, the Colts held the Petes to just four shots, carrying over a strong defensive effort from the night before when they dropped a tough 1-0 decision on the road to the Brantford Bulldogs.

“Our first, I thought, was a good period,” Smoskowitz explained. “One breakdown five-on-five when they get the odd-man rush to the goal, but to limit a team like that to four shots when they were waiting at home for us, and we’re coming off a game the night before, I was really proud of the guys for how we handled that first road period. I thought that was really well done.”

Lucas Karmiris also scored on the power play for the Petes, whose top players delivered when it mattered most.

“Penalties just kill you,” said Smoskowitz. “You’ve got Novotný and Dennis, who are two of the best shooters in the entire league… Give these guys time, space, and power plays like that, and let them feel good about themselves; they showed why tonight they’re dancing with the puck on their stick.

“It’s something that we spoke about before the game. I think the guys understood, but, unfortunately, we weren’t able to follow through tonight in terms of discipline. So, we’ll continue to work on that and hammer that home throughout the next couple of weeks.”

While offence was always a major question mark for a young roster featuring 17 new faces this season, the Colts currently can't buy a break. On Friday night in Brantford, they created numerous chances but still drew a blank. On Saturday, they managed just 22 shots and generated little sustained attack.

It is also difficult to build offensive momentum when a team is forced to use its top players primarily as penalty killers. Normally, the first two forwards over the boards are veterans Will Schneid and Carter Lowe, followed by Luca Testa and Dylan Tsherna, while defensemen Justin Handsor and Evan Passmore log heavy minutes on the kill.

“These guys are also relied upon to produce offence,” said Smoskowitz. “We keep draining them — draining their fuel tanks by playing on the penalty kill so much. They spend so much energy that by the time we play five-on-five, or when we get a power-play chance, they don’t really have any juice left.

“So, we just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot in terms of penalties and keep the game five-on-five.”

Patience and a commitment to structured hockey will ultimately put more pucks in the opposing net, Smoskowitz believes.

“This is a team where we’re not going to create offence by cheating. We’re not going to create offence by playing high-risk hockey,” he said. “Our offence is created by having good defense, wearing teams down, and letting our opponent be the first one to flinch. We were the first ones to flinch by taking those penalties.

“We were playing a sounder game, a more disciplined game. Maybe they flinch from a bad turnover or an extended shift, or maybe they take a penalty, and then we can create offence from that. So again, it’s just something that we have to learn and get better at.”

The Petes chased starting goaltender Hagan Bach from the Barrie net at the end of the second period after he surrendered five goals on 19 shots. Matvei Nikonovich stepped in for the third, allowing one goal on 11 shots.

“It’s not on Hagan,” said Smoskowitz. “I got him out of there more for a mental reset. We have all the confidence in the world in Hagan. He’s a very resilient kid. He’s a very confident kid, and most importantly, he works very hard. So you better believe this week he’s going to work his butt off and be ready to rock and roll for next weekend.”

ICE CHIPS

The Petes dominated the faceoff circle, outdrawing the Colts 43-22.

Barrie’s penalty kill, which ranked near the top of the league two weeks ago, has slipped to 11th overall.

UP NEXT

The Colts begin a busy stretch on Thursday at Sadlon Arena against the Owen Sound Attack.

“We’re looking forward to a good week,” said Smoskowitz. “Three games in four days coming up are a great chance to bounce back, score some goals, and feel really good about ourselves.”

Meanwhile, Peterborough host the Oshawa Generals on Thursday.