With an opportunity to make short work of the Niagara IceDogs and book their ticket into the second round, the Barrie Colts weren’t messing around on Saturday night.
Dalyn Wakely, Beau Jelsma, and Tristan Bertucci had a goal and assist each as the Colts burst out of the gate strong building a 5-0 lead en route to eliminating the IceDogs with a 6-3 victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,162 at Sadlon Arena.
The 4-1 Eastern Conference best-of-seven series win coupled with the Brantford Bulldogs’ 5-1 deciding win Saturday over the North Bay Battalion sets up a second-round date with the Kingston Frontenacs beginning Thursday night in Barrie.
The other conference semi-final will see Brantford host the winner of the Oshawa Generals and Brampton Steelheads. The Generals currently lead the first-round series 3-2 and can wrap things up Sunday night in Brampton.
Despite trailing 5-0 at the beginning of the third period, the IceDogs remained determined to avoid elimination. Niagara, which rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie it in the third in Game 2 only to lose, closed the gap with a pair of goals by Ryan Roobroeck and another by Braidy Wassilyn in a span of less than 10 minutes.
Anthony Romani, though, would drive the final stake into the IceDogs’ hopes when he scored into an empty net with just 1:58 remaining.
“Everyone knew coming in this was probably going to be their best effort,” said Wakely of an IceDogs team that battled Barrie for first place in the Central Division through the first half of the season. “They were on their last life, and, for us, we had to match that early and try to get them out as soon as we could.
“We did a good job of that early on. As we saw there in the third, they still had jump, so it’s always important to keep the pedal to the medal there and just bring her all the way home.”
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With the IceDogs season on the ropes, the Colts delivered an early blow, jumping out to a first-period lead on goals by Wakely and Kashawn Aitcheson.
Power-play markers by Jelsma and Bertucci sandwiched around Cole Beaudoin’s game-winner, also on the power play, at 14:28 gave the home team a commanding 5-0 lead.
Barrie wasn’t sitting back in this one.
“It’s important,” Wakely said of continuing to push hard. “This is the playoffs, and you get a couple of looks like that on the power play, you know they’re going to get some power plays, so, for us, it was important to capitalize on those and make good on them.
“Build some confidence and try to feel good going into the next one.”
The IceDogs, though, wouldn’t go down easy.
“Credit to them, they never quit,” said Colts’ assistant coach Dennis Martindale. “It was 5-0 and we built a little lead with a couple of power-play goals, but credit to Niagara. They never quit, and we knew that.
“We just had a few lapses in the third and then we kind of regrouped and got ourselves together and finished strong.”
The Colts carried play for most of the series, but overage goaltender Owen Flores was outstanding for Niagara throughout the five games, keeping his young team in it.
Barrie would finish with 52 shots on Saturday, the second time they did so in the five-game series. In all, they fired 227 shots at Flores.
“You have to tip your hat to Flores. He’s a great goaltender,” said Martindale. “You run into a goaltender that’s hot you just keep working and working and stick with it. Stick with the process and that’s what we did, and eventually some of them go in and some of them don’t.
“He is a great goalie.”
All four Barrie lines were strong on this night. The line of Owen Van Steensel, Wakely, and Romani was once again dominant as they were through the series.
The trio, who led the Battalion to three-straight appearances in the Eastern Conference finals, combined for 13 goals and 29 points through the five games.
That playoff experience also showed in the third, when the line got pucks deep and continued to work run the clock out in a defensive effort.
“That’s the exciting part about this time of year,” said Wakely of the playoffs. “I know for myself coming into the playoffs, I’m really excited to be here and those two guys as well. I think we pride ourselves in being out there late in the game and trying to hold the lead for our team.
“Obviously just trying to make the little plays and set a good example here, so the rest of the group follows. I thought our group did a good job in this series.”
The Colts paid a steep price to acquire the three forwards and it’s paying off, especially now at the most important time of the season.
“They’ve been in a lot of playoff series, so they know what it takes to win,” said Martindale. “They’re gelling. Romani comes off an injury, so now they’re starting to heat up and they’re starting to look really good. Like the North Bay line we played against for years.
With a strong core of young offensive stars like Kevin He, Ivan Galiyanov, Ethan Czata, Wassilyn, and Roobroeck, Wakely believes the IceDogs are a team to watch for over the next couple of seasons.
“That’s an impressive young group over there,” said Wakely. “They’re building something for a couple of years from now. Obviously for them probably a learning experience, and for us it was important to use our experience and age to our advantage and try to put this thing away.”
The Colt will now get a chance to catch a breather before turning their focus to the Frontenacs, who made short work of the Sudbury Wolves.
“They finished early with their four-game sweep, so they’re going to be ready, and we know that,” said Wakely. “For us, just try to reset here quickly and get some rest while we can and regroup and focus on the next task at hand.”
The hope is that injured forwards Brad Gardiner and Bode Stewart will return for Game 1.
“We wanted to finish this tonight. Get a day off tomorrow, and then start the process again on Monday. I think the injured guys might be back this week and that’ll be huge.
“Hopefully, we attack Kingston with a full lineup.”
The puck drop for Game 1 at Sadlon Arena is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Game 2 of the series is Saturday night in Barrie at 7:30 p.m. Kingston hosts Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday night and Thursday night. . . Ben Hrebik got the start in goal for Barrie and was solid through the game, stopping 31 of 34 shots. “Ben’s been good for us all season,” said Martindale. “He’s been solid and so has (Sam Hillebrandt). We’ve got the luck of having two great goaltenders, so that’s a great thing for us.” . . . Bertucci finished a strong series with two goals and eight points in five games, along with a huge stop in Game 4 Thursday in St. Catharines. . . Ivan Galiyanov (concussion) was forced to miss the final two games. The young forward was emotional after the loss, hugging his teammates on the ice. The IceDogs also surrounded Flores who played his last OHL game. . . The defensive pairing of Kashawn Aitcheson and Bertucci were dominant all night, finishing a plus 7 combined. . . Jelsma also capped off a big first round, finishing with four goals and nine points.
