Noah Erliden didn’t have to be the difference for the Erie Otters on this night.
More than a week after stoning the Barrie Colts in a 2-1 victory at Sadlon Arena, Erliden had a much easier night between the pipes this time, turning aside all 23 shots he faced as the Otters cruised to a 4-0 win over a listless Colts team, Saturday, at Erie Insurance Arena.
Pano Fimis, with his first of two on the night, scored on the game’s first shot just 1:30 in and the Otters never looked back.
“It was one of those nights,” said Barrie defenseman Grayson Tiller. “We gave one up early and we never really fully regrouped after that. That’s a really good team over there. They’re four lines deep and had everyone going, and we just didn’t have all 20 guys going tonight.”
The Colts (9-5) came in having won six of their last seven games, but it just wasn’t there tonight.
“You can’t put your finger on it,” said Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson. “A couple of sloppy mistakes got us down 2-0 and we didn’t make it any better in the second. We just didn’t have a lot of push.
“I thought we worked hard enough, but just not a lot of ability to make plays or find the open guy or get the stick available. Those kinds of things just weren’t there tonight.”
Carey Terrance and Martin Misiak also scored for Erie (8-4-1-1), which pretty much dominated from start to finish.
Erliden was spectacular in his first outing against the Colts on Oct. 21, turning aside 41 shots to earn first-star honours. The Swedish import had a lot less to do in recording his first-career OHL shutout.
“They outshot us tonight 40-23,” said Williamson. “We just made big mistakes, leaving guys wide open in front of the net. Our goalie passed one of (the goals) to them. We just shot ourselves in the foot and didn’t have the ability to put 35 shots on their guy to give ourselves a chance.
“The power play had poor decision-making. It was just one of those nights.”
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
It was easily their worst performance of the young season.
“I don’t think we’ve had a game like that this year so far,” said Tiller, who along with his teammates will look to bounce back next weekend in a home-and-home set against the Sudbury Wolves. “We got to move forward. We’re done with these guys now and we just got to move forward.
Next weekend we got to get both games and get four points out of four points.”
Barrie didn’t help itself in this one. Fimis was left all alone in front of the net early and he buried a rebound past goaltender Sam Hillebrandt for what proved to be the winner.
A little more than 10 minutes later, with Barrie on the power play, Beau Jelsma turned the puck over in the middle of the ice and Terrance walked in alone to beat Hillebrandt.
Then early in the second, Hillebrandt went behind the net to play the puck and gave it away to Wesley Royston who slid it in front to Martin Misiak for the easy tap in into the open cage.
A little more than four minutes later the Colts turned the puck over at the blue line again and Fimis buried a rebound off a Matthew Schaefer rebound to make it 4-0 and bring Hillebrandt’s night to an end.
One of those games the Colts will just want to put behind them quickly.
“I think so,” said Williamson. “We got to learn from it. If this was three (losses) in a row, but we haven’t had a game like this year where we really haven’t been in the game. They worked us pretty well from start to finish.
“They capitalized on what they had to, and we didn’t, so tip your hat to them.”
Slow starts and strong second periods have been the norm for Barrie this season, but there was no push this time.
“I thought our energy was good,” said Williamson. “If we got some things going in the second, but I thought our game deteriorated as we went on. It was kind of worse in the second than it was in the first.”
“They came out every period and we were kind of sleepy,” said Tiller.
The Colts are off until next Friday when they open a back-to-back set in Sudbury, before the two Central Division rivals return Saturday night to Sadlon Arena.
“We’re going to watch some video, have a good week of practice, and expect us to be flying Friday night in Sudbury,” said Tiller.
The Colts will hope to get Dalyn Wakely (ankle) and Nolan Newton (concussion) back in the lineup, while rookie Parker Vaughan is expected to be still away at the 2024 U17 World Challenge in Sarnia.
“Those are always tough,” Williamson said of the home-and-home against the Wolves. “Hopefully, we get a shot of getting Wakely back. We got a couple of bruised bodies, and we got a couple of days to get healed and hopefully we can have a more consistent energy on the back-to-back games.”
Game time Friday at the Sudbury Community Arena is 7:05 p.m.
ICE CHIPS:
Barrie was 0-for-5 on the power play, while Erie went 0-for-4. . . Jelsma was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season. . . Hillebrandt gave up four goals on 22 shots. Ben Hrebik came on in relief at 7:15 of the second and stopped all 18 shots he faced. . . Former Colts overager Tai York scored a power-play goal in his debut with the Sioux Falls Stampede, a 5-2 loss Friday night to the Waterloo Blackhawks.
