Up 3-1, the Barrie Colts were just 20 minutes away Thursday night from a stranglehold on their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with the North Bay Battalion.
A third period, two overtimes and almost two hours later the best-of-seven series is all even 2-2 heading to Game 5 in North Bay on Saturday night.
Kyle McDonald and Matvey Petrov scored less two minutes apart midway through the third and Anthony Romani beat Anson Thornton 2:43 into the second overtime to rally the Troops to a 4-3 win at Sadlon Arena and avoid the brink of playoff elimination.
Stopped earlier on a breakaway in the first overtime by Thornton, who was incredible in this one, Romani wouldn't be denied in the second extra frame.
The second-year Battalion winger picked up a loose puck inside the Barrie blue line, slid it down low to Dalyn Wakely and then headed for the front of the net where he took a return feed from Wakely and ripped it over the right pad of Thornton for the overtime winner.
"I thought the guys played hard," said Colts head coach Marty Williamson, whose club was missing two of its top scorers due to injury. "Without (Evan) Vierling and (Beau) Jelsma, I thought people stepped up. It was a good effort and we were looking for some magic in overtime and it didn't happen, and now we got a 2-2 series."
After pulling out two earlier overtime wins in their conference semifinal, the Colts came close but fell short on this night.
"Both teams had chances and the goalies played well," said Williamson. "They got the bounce and got the win."
Despite missing a huge part of their offence, the Colts managed to build a two-goal lead a little more than 10 minutes into the game.
With Barrie on the power play, Beau Akey's point blast was stopped by goalie Dom DiVincentiis. But the rebound bounced off the head of North Bay teammate Pasquale Zito and in at 2:45.
Cooper Matthews' first of the playoffs made it 2-0 at 10:18 when Cole Beaudoin slid the puck to him in the middle of the high slot and he wired a drive past the glovehand of DiVincentiis.
North Bay captain Liam Arnsby got his team on the board late in the opening period, but Tyler Savard restored the two-goal lead for Barrie near the midway mark of the second when he finished off an easy cross-crease pass by rookie Carter Lowe, who was back in the lineup due to the injuries up front.
The Troops dominated the Colts after the opening period, outshooting them 40-18 the rest of the way.
With the Battalion on the power play, McDonald took a feed from Zito and buried it at 7:27 of the third to cut the lead to one.
Shortly after, Petrov's first of the playoffs was a big one when he collected a faceoff win by McDonald and fired it over the glove of Thornton.
It was a tough finish for Thornton who stopped 52 of 56 shots and kept his team in the game.
"We got a big goalie performance. I thought Anson was outstanding in net for us," said Williamson. "It's one of those games where it would have been awfully nice to get the win there with the lineup we had and to persevere and find a way, but we didn't.
"We got to pick ourselves up and with a day off (Friday) let's get ready for a bus trip up there and we know there'll be a lively crowd and good atmosphere and it's playoff hockey."
The series is now a best-of-three and while the Troops have regained their home-ice advantage, the Colts have already shown they can win on the road there.
"We're hoping to get a body or two back and head up to North Bay and play the same kind of game we played here," Williamson said of their 2-1 overtime win at home on Tuesday. "We got to play tight defence and hope for a close game, and find a way to win."
As for getting Vierling back, who was injured Sunday in North Bay, and Jelsma, who was hurt on Tuesday, Williamson said he'll see how things go Friday at practice.
"I really don't know," he said when asked if they will return on Saturday. "It depends how tomorrow goes. We'll cross our fingers."
The Colts won Tuesday without both on the ice.
" Now we got to do the same thing," said Williamson. "Goaltending and get everybody to play their best game. If we do that, we have a shot."
Game time Saturday at the North Bay Memorial Gardens is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Game 6 goes Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Barrie. Game 7, if necessary, is 7 p.m. on Tuesday. . . Barrie was outshot 56-30. . . Colts captain Brandt Clark drew an assist on the goal by Matthews and now has points in each of his nine playoff games (6-15-21). . . Last night's attendance was 3,752. . . The Erie Otters announced Thursday that 15-year-old Halton Hurricanes defenceman Matthew Schaefer OHL draft will be their first overall pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection. The actual draft kicks off Friday night at 7 p.m. with their first three rounds and then the final 12 rounds will be held on Saturday. The Barrie Colts hold the 19th, 26th and 59th overall picks in the draft.
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