For 40 minutes Sunday afternoon, the Barrie Colts were right there with the Brantford Bulldogs at TD Civic Centre.
Unfortunately for the Colts, that would all change in a span of 78 seconds early in the third period.
Jake O’Brien, with his second goal, Charlie Paquette, with his first of two, and Vladimir Dravecky scored 78 seconds apart to help Brantford blow open a one-goal game and cruise to a 7-1 win over Barrie at TD Civic Centre.
In a highly anticipated battle between the OHL’s hottest team in Barrie – points in 12 consecutive games – and a stacked Brantford team favoured to win it all, the Bulldogs made a convincing argument why they’re pegged to win an OHL championship.
The Colts (30-11-2-4), who cut the lead to 2-1 on a Parker von Richter power-play goal with 4:34 remaining in the second, took it on the chin in the third to suffer their first regulation loss since a 4-0 shutout by London at home on Dec. 20th.
“You’re always going to learn something,” said Barrie head coach Dylan Smoskowitz of the tough loss. “Whether you win a game 7-1, lose a game 7-1, or lose a game 2-1, you’re always going to learn. We’re going to learn a little bit about ourselves, learn a little bit about our opponent, and we’re going to use this as fuel to give us a good week.
“Regroup and have a good day on Tuesday.”
The win moved the Bulldogs (32-7-6-1) back into a tie with the Ottawa 67’s atop the Eastern Conference standings, each with a game in hand and five points ahead of Barrie.
Down a goal and looking to feed off the momentum of a strong second period, things unravelled quickly for the Colts in the third.
A turnover by Parker von Richter at centre ice sent O’Brien and Marek Vanacker in alone, and the Bulldogs captain would wire one over the left shoulder of Ben Hrebik to make it 3-1 at 3:58.
Paquette would add to the lead just 51 seconds later when Cooper Dennis found him alone in front, and the former Guelph Storm overage forward tapped it past Hrebik.
The quick blows would keep on coming. Just 27 seconds later, Vladimir Dravecky, from the blueline, threw one towards the net, and it found its way through some traffic in front and past Hrebik to put the Colts on their heels.
Caleb Malhotra, on the power play, and Paquette would complete the scoring.
“They’re a momentum team,” said Smoskowitz. “They get fueled by their own momentum. They can generate (scoring) chances, and they generate them quickly. So, if you do have a mental lapse on our end, which is fine, – it’s going to happen during games – you just can’t have two or three in a row because they’ll make you pay.
“They’re a good team.”
Smoskowitz liked his team’s play in the first two periods. The opening goal came with Brantford on a two-man advantage, and despite Vanacker adding to the lead with another power-play goal early in the second, the Colts carried a good deal of the play in the period.
Ryerson Leenders came up big in goal for Brantford, stopping Calvin Crombie and then Eamon Edgar on breakaways, before von Richter buried his own rebound with one second left on a man advantage to finally get Barrie on the board.
“OK, you give up a five-on-three goal (to O’Brien to open the scoring), but to come back and make it 2-1 heading into the third, our guys felt great,” he said. “I thought we were going to have a great third period, but we had some bad bounces. We don’t want to get deep-railed that easily, but without the bad bounces, it was a pretty evenly played hockey game.
“I thought our guys had good jam. I thought our guys had good jump. I like the energy on the bench, but you give up three goals in a minute, the energy gets sucked out pretty quick.”
The OHL’s top power play made the Colts pay dearly in this one, connecting on three of its four chances. With two more dates on home ice against Brantford still on tap this season, staying out of the penalty box will be key for Barrie.
“Obviously, that’s a pretty talented team,” said Colts’ forward Mason Zebeski. “I think for us, discipline is key going into the next couple of games against them. Something we have got to tune in on internally.
“As far as giving up a lead like that in the third period, us older guys and leaders in the room have to step up and grab a hold of the bench and the room and make sure we don’t fall in a game like that again.”
Keep things at even strength, and Smoskowitz believes his club should be just fine.
“I liked our five-on-five game,” he said. “If we continue to play a 60-minute game against that team five-on-five, I’ll take our chances.”
Barrie continues its road travels with a trip south of the border to Michigan next weekend.
The Colts take on the Flint Firebirds on Friday night, before a Saturday night date with the Saginaw Spirit.
“There’s a lot of good stuff from that game,” Smoskowitz said of the loss in Brantford. “I know that score might not show that, but we’re going to take the positives out of it.
“Focus on the stuff we need to improve on during this week in practice and get ready for a big weekend in the United States.”
Game time Friday night at the Dort Financial Center is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Emil Hemming appeared to make it 5-2 in the third, but the goal was waved off and eventually disallowed after a lengthy video review. “Hemming got too excited and just pushed the goalie and the puck into the net, so the referee (Hillary Brennan) made a good call on it,” explained Smoskowitz. “She had a good eye back there.” . . . Barrie outshot Brantford 32-31. . . The two teams came together at centre ice at the final whistle, resulting in several penalties being assessed. Gabriel Eliasson (instigating), Luc Gauvreau (instigating), and Evan Passmore (abuse of official) were each handed a misconduct.
