Up 4-2 at the second intermission, Barrie Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz asked his team to keep the pedal to the metal.
Instead, the Colts eased up in the third period and paid the price, blowing the two-goal lead en route to a 5-4 shootout loss to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Thursday night, at Sadlon Arena.
The loss was the fourth straight and third on home ice for Barrie (1-2-0-2), which couldn’t capitalize on yet another big night in goal from Ben Hrebik.
Jordan Charron set up Christopher Brown just 2:51 into the third with the Greyhounds (4-2) on the power play, and then notched his second of the game and seventh of the season a little more than five minutes later to tie it when he stole the puck inside his own blueline and raced down the right side before wiring a shot past the outstretched right pad of Hrebik.
After a scoreless overtime, 2025 OHL Priority Selection 19th overall pick Ryan Kaczynski scored the lone goal of the shootout, and the Hounds, sparked by a beautiful setup by the red-hot Charron while he was down on the ice to Brown, capped off the comeback.
“It really sparked them,” Smoskowitz said of that early third-period power-play marker. “The message to the guys between the second and third was keep the motor going. I thought we did a lot of good stuff in that second period. We had some chances there. The guys were moving. Our forecheck was really good. If anything, we just focused a little bit more urgency on the backcheck to kind of limit some chances, but we didn’t want to take our foot off the gas pedal, and, unfortunately, we did.”
After coming away with a 2-1 lead in an opening period where they were heavily outplayed and heavily outshot (15-7), the Colts got on track in the second and would add to their lead when Joseph Salandra set up Brad Gardiner in front of the net a little less than four minutes in.
Charron, who finished with two goals and three points and now leads all OHL scorers with seven goals and four assists for 11 points, would cut the lead to 3-2 at 17:08 of the second, but Kashawn Aitcheson would hammer a one-timer into the top corner with Barrie on the power play just 31 seconds later to restore the two-goal lead.
“We just had to keep playing our game, honestly,” said Justin Handsor, of what the Colts needed to do in the third. “We’ve got to play more soundly defensively and get the pucks out every time. Maybe get a bit more active on our forecheck.”
The Soo outshot Barrie 47-26, which left Hrebik to bail them out of trouble too many times in this one.
“The odd man rushes and the scoring chances were way too high,” said Smoskowitz. “When you see shots like that, as long as they’re from the outside, you don’t mind that number. But the number of chances we’re giving up right now is far too high.
“Odd man rushes, chances from inside our fort, so, again, it’s something we’re going to look at as a group and keep hammering to these guys. They’re working hard out there, we just got to start to understand the game’s got to look better, but it’s going to come.”
The Greyhounds came out hard and grabbed the lead just 3:19 into the first period when rookie Quinn McKenzie buried a rebound in front.
It was the Colts, though, who would come out of the period on top.
Barrie rookie Nicholas Desiderio would power around defenceman Spence Evans on the right side, cut in front, and slide it around the right pad of Barrie native Landon Miller for his first OHL goal at 14:50.
Salandra, who would finish with three primary assists on the night, would then set up Carter Lowe with 21 seconds remaining in the opening frame.
Two of Salandra’s three helpers came off turnovers he forced.
“Even more than the passing, more than the points, I love how tenacious he is on the puck,” said Smoskowitz of the Pleasantville, New York native. “He’s created chances for himself with hard work and determination. It’s good to see it paying off on the scoresheet for him.
“We’ll get some more guys to buy in and start to play as hard as that. Once we get one, two, three, and four lines rolling like that, we’re going to be a hard team to stop.”
Four of Barrie’s first five games have been on home ice, but a 6-2 decision over Guelph on opening night is the only win they have to show for it. The Colts will look to improve on that when they host the Oshawa Generals on Saturday night.
“We’re front-loaded with our home schedule right now,” said Smoskowitz. “You want to put on a good show in front of our crowd. We want to make this place comfortable for our guys. As soon as you step on that Sadlon ice, you know the Barrie Colts are going to be a tough out, and right now we’re just a little bit loose.
“Thank God, it's only five games into the year. We still have a long way to go with these guys, and we just have to keep the positive vibes here. Keep the guys buying in. We’ll get back to work on Friday and have a good one here on Saturday.”
The Colts will get a huge boost to the lineup on Saturday with forward Cole Beaudoin back from training camp with the Utah Mammoth of the NHL.
The first rounder arrived too late to play Thursday, but he’ll be at practice on Friday, where it’s expected he will be named team captain when the club announces its leadership team for this season.
“He’s in my coach’s office right now,” Smoskowitz said. “His flight got in a little late. If he had put his skates on, he probably would have jumped on the ice halfway through the first period. We weren’t going to do that to him tonight, but he’s going to jump on the ice with the guys tomorrow for practice, and I’m sure the guys will be happy to see him.”
Handsor certainly is.
“It’ll be a huge addition,” he said. “He logs a lot of minutes and brings an element that not too many guys have.”
ICE CHIPS: Rookie blueliner Cole Emerton had two assists and now has four points in four games. . . Hrebik has faced 127 shots in just three games, stopping 119. . . Soo was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Colts were 1-for-1. . . The Colts wrap up a busy weekend Sunday afternoon on the road when they take on the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre. Game time is 2 p.m.
