In facing one of the best, the Barrie Colts brought their best Friday night in the nation’s capital.
Kanata native Cole Beaudoin scored twice on his return home, and the Colts played arguably their most complete game of the season to defeat the Ottawa 67’s 4-1 at TD Place, and hand the fourth overall team in the OHL standings only its seventh regulation loss in 28 games this season.
In a dominant effort from start to finish, the Colts (15-8-1-4) shut down their Eastern Conference rivals in impressive fashion, limiting their offensive chances while outshooting them 41-25.
“[The coaching staff was] talking between the first and second periods and we were saying we haven’t seen this Barrie Colts team in a while,” said Barrie assistant coach Dennis Martindale. “It was just a full 60 (minutes). We didn’t let them have anything.
“We were in full control of the game, from the beginning to the end, and that was really encouraging to see.”
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Kashawn Aitcheson, with his league-leading 19th goal among defencemen, and Nicholas Desiderio also scored for Barrie, which got a pair of assists from Emil Hemming.
It was the seventh win in the last 10 games for the Colts.
“Our team had a really productive week of practice this week, and I think it really showed out there,” said Colts’ blueliner Evan Passmore. “It was good to get that win.”
The 67’s (19-7-1-1), who skated to a 2-1 victory earlier this season in Barrie, were no match for the Colts on this night. If not for the outstanding play in goal by Ryder Fetterolf, especially in the opening period, the score could have been more lopsided.
“Every game is important, but when you got a good team like Ottawa, it’s a good challenge,” said Passmore, of a Barrie team that was amped to face an Ottawa club that had a chance to move within three points of the Brantford Bulldogs atop the OHL standings. “We like the challenge. We got out there and worked as a team, and it was good to get the win.”
It was a good test, and the Colts passed it with flying colours.
“A lot of positive signs,” said Martindale. “It’s always fun, because this is one of the best teams in our conference. The guys got up for this game, they were ready to play, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. This was 60 full minutes of Barrie Colts hockey.
“It was super encouraging.”
There’s no place like home for Beaudoin. Playing in front of a large group of family and friends, the Utah Mammoth top prospect was a force all night, firing seven shots, second to Hemming’s nine in the contest.
Beaudoin, who is almost certain to be named to Canada’s world junior squad early next week, sits third overall among OHL scoring leaders with 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in 23 games.
“He’s always good here,” Martindale said of the co-captain. “He always has family here, and he’s always ready to play. He got a lot of good help from (William) Schneid and Hemming on his two wings, and it was fun to watch.”
Beaudoin opened the scoring at 14:07 of the first. After two really good power plays where Barrie had numerous chances to score, the 10th overall OHL pick in 2022 finally beat Fetterolf just seconds after the second man advantage had ended when he took a pass from Hemming at the bottom of the left faceoff circle and roofed it over the shoulder of the Ottawa goalie.
Frank Marrelli, with Ottawa on the power play, hammered a one-timer past Barrie goalie Ben Hrebik to tie it less than three minutes later, but it was all the offence the home team mustered on this night.
The 67’s were outshot 35-17 over the opening 40 minutes, and the Colts received second-period markers by Aitcheson and Desiderio a little more than four minutes apart later in the second and never looked back.
“That goes back to our coaching, and our pre-scout, and just how hard we are working out there,” Passmore said of his team’s ability to limit Ottawa’s offence on this night.
“You know you’re going to give something up, because they’re a very structured team and they work very hard,” said Martindale of the 67’s. “The forecheck is a big part of their game, so you are going to give stuff up, but with the way we answered that was very encouraging.
“We just stuck together. We played our compact D-zone, and just didn’t give them much after that.”
The Colts complete a weekend eastern road swing on Saturday against the Kingston Frontenacs.
They edged the Frontenacs 2-1 at home last Saturday night and will be looking to repeat the complete game they had Friday night in Ottawa.
“One hundred per cent,” Martindale said of looking for more of the same. “They’re also a well-coached, structured team. If we bring what we did (Friday) into tomorrow, we should be good to go.
“That’s the thing with this team. We have to find that consistency where we do this every single night.”
ICE CHIPS
Hrebik has now won five-straight games and has improved his save percentage to .924, second to only Kingston’s Matthew Minchak among OHL goalies.
Overage forward Sam McCue, playing in his Ottawa debut after being acquired earlier this week from Brantford, appeared to injure his shoulder in the second period and never returned.
Barrie was one-for-five on the power play, Ottawa one-for-three.
Brad Gardiner, who was acquired from Ottawa before last season, just missed scoring on a feed from Joseph Salandra in the first period.
The Colts moved four points ahead of North Bay atop the Central Division standings.
ADD. OHL
Niagara 4 Brampton 2
Kitchener 6 Peterborough 2
Windsor 4 London 1
Owen Sound 6 Erie 2
Flint 4 Kingston 2
Sudbury 3 Sarnia 1
Guelph 5 Saginaw 3
Sault Ste. Marie 11 Oshawa 2
