Bach earns first career shutout in Colts’ 2-0 victory over Saginaw

Saginaw, Mich. — OHL Friday night:
First Period
     1. Barrie, Tang  3, 8:54
     Penalties — Saginaw bench (too many men) 1:53, Yurkiw Bar (tripping) 5:03, Wassilyn Sag (cross-checking) 13:42.
Second Period
     2. Barrie, Mogull 4 (Passmore, Tang) 12:53 (pp)
     Penalties — Lombardi Bar (roughing), Meyer Sag (roughing) 1:27, Cloutier Sag (cross-checking) 3:21, Meyer Sag (high-sticking) 6:44, McCormick Bar (fighting), Vellaris Sag (instigating, fighting, misconduct) 11:04.
Third Period
     No scoring.
     Penalties — Figliomeni Bar (cross-checking) 6:43, Lowe Bar (double check from behind) 19:22.

Shots on goal by
Barrie 6 11 0—17
Saginaw 5 10 17—32
     Goal (shots-saves) — Barrie: Bach (W,1-6-1-0); Saginaw: Shurygin (L,2-3-0-0).
     Power plays (goals-chances) — Barrie: 1-5; Saginaw: 0-3.
     Referees — Drew Jackson, Jordan Hurtubise. Linesmen — Joseph Erickson, Riley Brass.
     Attendance — 2,216 (5,527)

Patrick Sexton knew Hagan Bach was in for a big night in Saginaw on Friday.

The Colts assistant coach said he only had to look at his goaltender to know he was ready for the task at hand against a talented Spirit offensive attack.

There was no way Bach was going to let anything past him on this night.

“No, you could honestly see it in his eyes,” Sexton said of the Barrie netminder, who stopped all 32 shots he faced to record his first career shutout and his first win of the season in a 2-0 blanking of Saginaw at Dow Event Center. “He just had that look where it didn’t matter what was going to be thrown his way, whether it was pucks, bodies, or sticks. It didn’t matter. He was not going to be denied tonight. Not only did he make huge saves, but he made incredibly timely saves.”

Winless in eight appearances this season and coming off two losses where he was pulled before the third period, the Niskayuna, N.Y. native bounced back to post arguably the best start of his young career for Barrie (3-10-2-0).

“Bacher’s been unbelievable for us all year, and unfortunately, the nights where he’s been at his best, we haven’t been quite as good in front of him,” said Sexton, who was guiding the Colts behind the bench with head coach Dylan Smoskowitz coaching Canada White at the 2026 U17 World Challenge in Oakville. “So, to see him come out there after having had a couple of tough go-arounds, I’m just so happy for him. I’m so proud of him.

“The way he was all game, but especially in that third period where, as a young team, we’re holding on, trying to fight the push, and he had our back every step of the way… He did a fantastic job, and the guys battled hard for him.”

Bach was especially outstanding in a third period where the Spirit (6-6-2-1) outshot the Colts 17-0 and spent pretty much the whole 20 minutes in their end.

His biggest stop came with a little more than four minutes left when Dimitry Savin, parked to the side of Bach in front, one-timed a cross-crease pass that appeared headed for the low corner of the net. Somehow, Bach got across his crease and kicked the puck out with his right pad.

Then, with a little over a minute remaining and having lost his stick during the play, he reached out to snare a point-blank shot just as he was being run over.

“That back-door save on that one, he was incredible getting the glove in there, and then he scrambled,” Sexton said of Bach, who helped the club earn its first road win of the season.

While the Colts spent the third period pretty much on their heels, the opening 40 minutes proved to be a completely different story. They had plenty of jump out of the gate, and a strong start paid off at 8:46 of the first period when Michael Tang walked in on the right side over the blue line and blasted a low drive over the right pad of Stepan Shurygin.

Barrie hit four posts before midway through the second period. Thanks to Bach, that alone was enough offence on this night.

“I’d like to see those go in, but maybe the hockey gods were looking down on us, seeing us hit those posts,” Sexton said. “Then you have a guy back there like Bach to flip the script and just keep momentum on our side. We talked about it all year, as a group, of trying to get one per cent better, and as long as we’re generating those chances, we know that the message is getting through.

“We know the opportunities are there, and it’s only a matter of time. We just have to keep knocking on that door, and we’ll burst through. We got enough to win tonight. I’d love to see some of those posts go in, but, yeah, I’m very proud of the work ethic and intensity that our group played with tonight.”

Sebastian Mogull gave the Colts a little breathing room at 12:53 of the second period with Barrie on the power play. Evan Passmore slid the puck down to the first-year winger, parked in the left faceoff circle, and he wired a one-timer past the glove of Shurygin.

Mogull has now scored in three straight games and is becoming the consistent offensive contributor the Colts were hoping for when he signed as a free agent.

“You can’t discount the adjustment and the jump that Mogull has had, going from playing prep school hockey last year to jumping into our league this year,” Sexton said of the Naples, Fla. native, who would have been better insulated last year by a Cole Beaudoin or Emil Hemming. “He’s jumping in right away, and we’re asking a lot of him to produce and be an impact player in a top-six role.

“It was always going to take him some time to adjust, but you can see the improvement in his game. He’s playing with more confidence. He’s playing with more pace. He’s moving his feet. I know he’s done a lot of video work with Smoskowitz and with Connor Cadaret to get to where he’s at.”

The Spirit were a desperate team coming into the game, having lost their last four.

The potent offensive team includes the league’s co-scoring leaders in Dima Zhilkin and Braidy Wassilyn. Zhilkin had his OHL-long 14-game scoring streak come to an end, while Wassilyn and Levi Harper, the OHL scoring leader among defensemen, were also held off the score sheet.

The Western Conference club also received word that Nikita Klepov, last year’s OHL scoring champion, has been sent down by the NHL's Anaheim Ducks.

Sexton said the coaching staff, which included Marty Williamson, the Colts' vice president and general manager, talked to the young club about how they had to play “our game” and make it difficult for them.

They kept things tight and low-scoring, stayed out of the box, and were heavy and physical on the forecheck.

“We wanted to make sure we could wear them down, try and play physical on them, and try to make them earn every inch,” Sexton said. “Then, with that, making sure that we are working back above them. Make them have to go through five of us to help Bach, let him do his thing back there, and try to make things as predictable as possible.

“That's our identity. That's who we are as a team. That's why we have the team we have. We love our guys for it, and, again, they did a fantastic job of that tonight.”

MCCORMICK MAKES IMPACT IN RETURN TO LINEUP

Jonah McCormick wasted little time getting back into the swing of things.

The power forward, who had been out a little over a month with an ankle injury, was strong on the forecheck and a physical force all night. He even dealt a one-punch knockout blow to Saginaw’s Xander Velliaris in a fight midway through the second period following his huge hit on Levi Harper.

The play drew an instigator penalty, and Mogull scored on the ensuing power play.

“It’s not easy to come back from the injury he had, and you can see a little bit early on this week in practice and then the first couple of shifts of just trying to get back to game speed, and then, all of a sudden, that switch flicked,” Sexton said. “He’s a fantastic kid. You talk about momentum. It was a great hit, and he draws the instigator penalty. Joe did a great job tonight.”

SEXTON HAPPY TO SIGN CONTRACT EXTENSION

Barrie assistant coach Patrick Sexton recently inked a one-year extension.

Sexton praised the ownership and fellow staff members for making the hockey club a place any young coach would want to develop and grow.

“It’s obviously nice to have security,” he said. “My fiancée and I love Barrie. We love the people that I work with. Dylan is actually an incredible leader, such an incredible person. You see it every day in his excitement to be at the rink. He’s an awesome teammate, an awesome friend. An absolute pleasure to work for.

“Same thing with Marty. Great to have him on the bench with us tonight.”

ICE CHIPS

Along with Smoskowitz, rookie blue-liners Lucas Matheson and Declan McNally are away at the 2026 U17 World Challenge.

Tang also added an assist, and after going scoreless in five games, the winger now has three points (one goal, two assists) in his last two games.

UP NEXT

Barrie will wrap up its trip to Michigan on Saturday afternoon with a Halloween matchup against the Flint Firebirds.

“We’re learning every day as a group,” Sexton said of his young club, which is 2-1-1 over its last four games. “We’re trying to get one per cent better every day, and this is another step along that road. So, it's great to start off a road trip with a win, obviously coming into a tough place against a good opponent. To not only win, but shut the door and get that blank sheet.

“We’ll enjoy it tonight, have a happy bus ride, and then another tough test tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, the Spirit host the Guelph Storm on Saturday afternoon.