One miscue can be the difference in a hockey game.
The Barrie Colts found that out the hard way in a 5-2 loss to the Brampton Steelheads on Friday night at the CAA Centre.
A little more than three minutes after Beau Akey had tied the game at 2-2, Luke Misa would take advantage of bad coverage in front of the Barrie net to bury the game-winner with just 2:42 remaining.
“We played well as a team and just fell asleep for one shift and they capitalized,” said Beau Akey, who had the lone goal for the Colts (12-6-0-0).
Porter Martone, with his fourth point of the night, collected a puck behind the Barrie net and, as a pair of Colts raced to him, slid it back in front to Misa who was left all alone in front to slide it past the right pad of Sam Hillebrandt.
Empty-net goals by Adam Zidlicky and Carson Rehkop, his second of the night, sealed the win for the Steelheads (9-8-1-0) and snapped their three-game losing skid.
“We had our opportunities, and we got it tied,” Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said of the loss which snapped Barrie’s three-game winning streak. “Then we made a bad mistake and didn’t pick up a guy late and we were staring at a puck below the goal line, and it bites you in the rear end.
“Empty net goals are empty net goals; you’re trying to push at that point.”
The Colts outshot their Central Division rivals 38-26 but found themselves trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes on early first-period goals by Rehkopf and Jack Van Volsen, on the power play.
Like they did Wednesday nights, the Colts rallied to tie the contest. Brad Gardiner collected a shot off the back boards by Gabriel Eliasson and slid it past Jack Ivankovic at 13:05 of the second period to cut the lead in half.
Akey tied it at 13:58 when he spotted heavy traffic in front of Ivankovic and whistled a long shot from the point over the shoulder of the Brampton goaltender.
“It was a hard-fought game, very similar to Wednesday. Tightly played, and I thought we did OK,” said Williamson. “An off-side goal (Van Volsen) that was kind of inconclusive, a goal (Rehkopf) that was on the goal line that was inconclusive, it’s one of those nights.”
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Barrie certainly had plenty of chances in this one.
“I feel like we’re a better team and the goals didn’t really show that,” said Akey. “We played pretty well, but I think we just need to get more bodies to the net as a team and more stuff will happen at the net, and more goals will come.”
Two of the OHL’s top scorers also made a difference on this night. Martone, who sits second in scoring with 36 points, had four assists, while Rehkopf, who sits tied for third (Liam Greentree) with 33 points, finished with two goals and two assists.
“They’re elite players and that’s what happens time and time again,” said Williamson.” At times they are going to sneak through and do things. They have a lot of injuries over there too, so it’s a big win for them.”
Ivankovic also played well, making 36 saves including a couple of big ones on Zach Wigle.
“The second and third were good periods for us,” said Williamson. “I didn’t mind our first period. It was just unfortunate a couple of goals went in, but we had five scoring chances to one.
“It’s just one of those nights. They battled hard and their goaltender played quite well, and they found a way to win.”
The Colts cap off a tough week against three of the Eastern Conference’s top teams on Saturday night when they host the Oshawa Generals. Barrie won the first meeting between the two teams, 4-3, back on October 6 in Oshawa.
This time, the Generals will have Colorado Avalanche top prospect Calum Ritchie in the lineup. Ritchie has four goals and 15 points over just eight games.
Anaheim Ducks 2024 third overall NHL pick Beckett Sennecke has been red hot over his last 11 games with 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points, while sniper Colby Barlow is beginning to heat up.
“They can throw four (NHL) first-rounders out there on the ice,” Williamson said of Oshawa, which is coming off a 3-2 shootout win last night in Ottawa. “They won in a shootout tonight, so we’re going to have to bring our A game. We got one game on home ice this weekend, so let’s go play a good game at home.”
For Akey, the Colts need to learn from the loss in Brampton and then put it aside.
“We got to think of this game and think of how we got to play a solid 60 minutes here tomorrow,” he said.
Game time at the Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS:
Eliasson (sick) returned after missing Wednesday’s game in Brantford. . . Jaden Newton was handed an instigator and game misconduct after drawing a fight with Brampton’s Gabriel Chiarot with nine seconds remaining. The Colts’ centre was coming to the aid of a teammate after a big hit by Chiarot. . . Cole Dubowsky is eligible to return Saturday after serving the last of a two-game suspension. Evan Passmore (bullying) still has three games remaining on his five-game suspension. . . Michael Derbidge missed his second-straight game. . . Gardiner added an assist for a two-point night. Carter Lowe, Dalyn Wakely, and Eliasson also had assists.
