It took Justin Handsor over two seasons and 76 total games to score his first OHL goal.
The Barrie Colts defenceman made sure not to wait as long for his second one.
Ten days after notching his first career goal in Sudbury, the third-year blueliner scored the game-winner early in the third period to lift the Colts (14-8-1-4) to a 2-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Saturday night at Sadlon Arena.
And it was a beautiful goal at that.
With 3:14 gone in the third period, and the game tied at 1-1, Brad Gardiner spun around deep in the Kingston end and slid it back to Handsor, who was moving in off the blue line.
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The 2023 third-round pick (60th overall) patiently waited and fired a perfect shot from the top of the faceoff circle over the right pad of Frontenacs’ goalie Matthew Minchak for his first career game-winner.
“Yeah, it took a while for the first one, definitely. I’m just happy to get that opportunity,” Handsor said with a big grin. “Gardiner found me right in the slot, and I’m just glad I didn’t miss.”
Handsor looked like he’d done this plenty of times before.
“It was like a goalscorer’s goal,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “Handsor’s not a goalscorer, but he found some good ice. It was a really nice delay by Gardiner, too, to have patience (entering the zone).
“It actually started from a very good defensive-zone shift. Then Handsor jumped into that ice, and snapped it post and in against a goalie who was playing really well. It was good to see Handsy get the second of his career.”
On Teddy Bear Toss night at the rink, Barrie got all the scoring it needed from two unlikely sources.
Jaiden Newton opened the score at 16:14 of the first period and brought the bears raining down after taking advantage of a bad line change by Kingston.
With Frontenacs’ blueliner Van Williamson desperately trying to get into the play after coming off the bench, Newton raced into the Kingston end and glanced over at Nicholas Desiderio before firing the puck short side over the right pad of Minchak.
The goal was just Newton’s second of the season.
“There’s a two-on-one, and I looked for a pass,” said the third-year Barrie centre. “It wasn’t there, and the goalie gave me the shot low blocker, so I shot it, and it went in.
Hundreds of bears, which will be donated to local charities and hospitals, poured down from the stands.
“It was nice,” Newton said of getting the Teddy Bear goal.
Newton’s goal was lonesome until early in the third when Kieren Derwin raced into the Barrie end, gained a step around Gabriel Eliasson and then slid the puck across the crease to a charging Nolan Snyder, who fired it over the left pad of Ben Hrebik.
Looking to snap a four-game losing streak and facing a Barrie team for the first time since it had eliminated them in the second round of last year’s OHL playoffs, the goal sparked the Frontenacs.
With Kingston pressing to get the go-ahead goal, Handsor stepped up and killed that momentum a little more than two minutes later.
“It was great timing. Right after (their goal), and it just killed their momentum,” Handsor said. “They were trying hard to find their second goal to answer back, but that helped give the momentum back to us.”
Smoskowitz loved how quickly his team responded.
“You go into the third period with a lead, and you feel good in the room and have a set game plan, and they come out and get a quick one,” said the Colts’ coach. “It’s like, ‘OK, what are we going to do here? How are we going to respond?’ That’s one thing this group is so good at. Something I am so proud of.
“There’s a lot of stuff we need to correct, a lot of stuff we’re working on, but I am so proud of the resiliency of this group.”
When Kingston did get its chances, Hrebik was there for his team. While Minchak shone in the Kingston net with 42 saves, the Barrie goalie was pretty good himself, turning aside 33 shots to win his fourth-straight game.
“We know we always have Ben in the back,” said Handsor. “He’s always consistent for us, always our guy.”
Barrie had plenty of chances to add to its lead in this one, but on a rare night off, the OHL’s fifth-ranked power play coming in was blanked on eight opportunities, including a couple of two-man advantages.
The Colts, which carried the play five-on-five for the most part, didn’t let the missed opportunities with the man advantage get to them.
“It does happen all the time, and what you really don’t want to happen when you’re having a good five-on-five game, is for the power play to derail you. For it to be a momentum killer,” said Smoskowitz. “So, the fact our power play wasn’t clicking, OK, it is what it is.
“But the fact that we came back after some mishaps on the power play and got back to work on our five-on-five game, I’m proud of the guys for sticking with that tonight.”
And proud of Handsor for beginning to elevate his game to more than just a stay-at-home defender.
“I’ve seen it in this league before,” said Smoskowitz. “As you get older, you start to realize what made you survive through your young years, and that’s kind of a staple for you know. The defensive game allowed Justin to survive his first two seasons. That’s rock solid, so now he can start to elevate his game.
“Now he can start to add that next layer to his game, which is the offensive side. So, for him to understand that about himself, to find that confidence in his own game, and start to contribute from both sides of the puck, I’m overly happy with his development.”
The game was also a good bounce back from a disappointing effort Friday night in Sudbury when Barrie had its 12-game point streak snapped with a 6-3 loss.
“We all came in this morning in good spirits,” said Newton. “Obviously, it sucked losing, but we forget about the loss. We came back, and we were all in a good mood. Every day is a new day.”
ICE CHIPS
The Colts did a much better job of staying out of the penalty box compared to recent games, holding the Frontenacs scoreless on just three chances with the man advantage. “We’ve been working on it a lot,” said Handsor. “We’ve been talking about it in the room, and lately we’ve been getting better. It was rough with the penalties, but we knew we had to clean it up.”
Barrie dominated at the faceoff dot, winning 37 of 57 draws.
ADD. OHL
Sudbury 2 Brampton 1 (OT)
Windsor 3 Owen Sound 2
Brantford 4 Kitchener 3
Erie 5 Peterborough 2
Flint 3 Sault Ste. Marie 2
London 8 Saginaw 5
