‘Inconsistent’ Colts drop Game 3 in Kingston

Outside a quiet dressing room on Tuesday night in Kingston, the Barrie Colts were lamenting what could have been.

Despite a slow start, the Colts found themselves with an opportunity to grab a stranglehold on their OHL Eastern Conference semifinal series against the host Frontenacs after jumping out to a 2-1 first-period lead.

The Colts, though, wouldn’t do themselves any favours on this night.

A steady march to the penalty box along with yielding a slew of odd-man rushes allowed the Frontenacs to claw back into the series with a 5-3 win in front of 3,769 fans at Slush Puppie Place.

Cederick Guindon, with his second of the night, tied it on the power play late in the second, and then Emil Pieniniemi and Gage Heyes, with goals a little more than four minutes apart midway through the third, powered the Frontenacs rally to cut the best-of-seven series to 2-1.

“We were just too inconsistent tonight,” said overage forward Owen Van Steensel, who scored twice to help Barrie grab the lead after Guindon opened the scoring just 1:30 into the game. “There were flashes of good, flashes of bad. We just got to put it all together.

“That was one where maybe we got outplayed, but we played good enough, had enough chances to bury. If we just tighten up defensively, we’ll be just fine.”

Kingston can even up things up back at home on Thursday night. The puck drop is 7 p.m.

“In the playoffs, you have got to stay as even-keeled as you can,” said Van Steensel. “Not too high, not too low. I said this of the last playoff series too, playoff series aren’t meant to be won in four games. That’s why they make you play seven.

“We can’t let it get to us too much. Obviously, use it to reflect and get better, but just moving on to the next one is important.”

The Colts will also have to stay out of the penalty box. While they would kill off the first four Kingston power-plays to hang on to their slim lead, the lack of discipline would eventually catch up to them on Guindon’s equalizer late in the second.

It was Kingston’s first goal with the man advantage in the series.

“When you lose the penalty battle 6-2, you’re probably not going to win the game,” said Van Steensel. “They were the more disciplined team. We can speculate all we want that we should have or shouldn’t have got more calls, but that’s not in our control.

“We put too much in the referee’s hands, and we got to be more disciplined next game.”

The Colts spent half of the middle frame killing penalties.

“I thought the second period took our momentum away,” said Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson. “(There were) some dumb penalties. We talked about it, and just didn’t quite have our legs to start the third.

“They made some good plays and then we seemed to have found our legs, but it was a little bit too late.”

Kingston’s power play was good all night and only some big stops by Barrie goaltender Ben Hrebik would help Barrie stay in the lead.

They would eventually pay a price. The Frontenacs fired one off the post with Emil Hemming (slashing) in the box and would then tie it with Gabriel Eliasson (roughing) serving his second minor of the game.

“I thought we got through the storm there a little bit and it’s too bad we didn’t get out of that second period (with the lead),” said Williamson. “It kind of energized them for the third, where it would have energized us if we’d got through that period with the penalty kill and they got the last one.”

The number of quality chances and odd-man rushes also didn’t help. Twice Hrebik stopped Tuomas Uronen after he went alone in the third period.

“I feel bad for Hrebik,” said Van Steensel. “He goes in net and stands on his head. We just gave up too many Grade A (chances) in front of him. There’s nothing he could have done. He played great for us tonight.”

Despite being outshot 43-25, Barrie had plenty of prime scoring chances themselves.

Kingston goaltender Charlie Schenkel, who was pulled from Game 2 in Barrie last Saturday after also struggling in the series opener, made up for it over the final two periods in Game 3.

He had help from his post when Kashawn Aitcheson drilled a one-timer on the power play and then he stoned Hemming on a pair of one-timers in front that could have extended Barrie’s lead.

“Especially in the second after one of the kills, we had two really good looks,” said Williamson of the Hemming opportunities. “(Schenkel) made some leg saves and we didn’t elevate the puck enough, but he did a good job for them.

“He got called out in the (Kingston) paper and he responded with a good game for them.”

Carter Lowe would provide some hope late when he buried one in front with a minute left and Hrebik on the bench.

Barrie nearly tied it on a scramble in front, but former Colt Ben Pickell would ice the win into an empty net with 25 seconds remaining.

A Game 5 win on Thursday would give Barrie the chance to wrap up things at home on Saturday night.

“It’s the cliches now,” said Williamson. “Every game is a must-win, big games and that kind of stuff. This was a big one tonight for them to get their first victory. They’re going to feel good about themselves, so we have to take the momentum back.

“It’s going to be a hard-fought game.”

 Van Steensel says he and his teammates have to put this loss behind them and be ready for Thursday.

“The guys know how important Thursday is going to be,” he said. “You can’t treat it any differently. It’s not just another game, but you got to treat it like a game. Preparation is the same and we just got to be ready to go.”

ICE CHIPS: The NHL released its final Central Scouting Rankings on Tuesday and Aitcheson (9^th), Evan Passmore (87th), and Hrebik (19^th) all made the list. . . Sam Hillebrandt got the opening two starts at home, and Hrebik last night. As for who will get the nod in Game 4, Williamson says he’ll make that decision on game day. “I’ll take a little bit to digest here and then decide what we want to do on Thursday,” he said. . . Williamson is confident his club will be able to put this loss aside. “That’s why we have a veteran team,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be panic and some of the newer players got to realize that being tough is not taking penalties and those kinds of things. We’ll get this one behind us and get ready for Thursday.” . . . Van Steensel added an assist for three points, while linemate Anthony Romani finished with two helpers. . . Van Steensel’s first of the night came off a beauty set up by Beau Akey where he deked around a Kingston player and then did a no-look behind the back pass in front to his overage teammate. . . Game 5 in Barrie on Saturday starts at 7:30 p.m. Game 6, if necessary, is Sunday night in Kingston at 7 p.m.