Down 3-0 to the Kitchener Rangers and his Barrie Colts teammates exhausted, Connor Punnett stood up in the dressing room during the second intermission.
The message from the Colts captain was clear. A period away from the beginning of the Christmas break, Punnett asked his teammates to leave it all on the ice.
Did they ever.
While the Barrie Colts would eventually fall 4-3 in overtime, Saturday night, at Sadlon Arena, they had rallied to force the OHL’s top team into overtime and earned a crucial point from a game that appeared out of reach.
“I thought we were running out of fumes for a lot of the game, and it just seemed like we were tired,” said Colts head coach Marty Williamson. “We had a quick little talk in there just about digging down and playing a last good period before the break for our fans and that kind of stuff to try and work as hard as we can. So, give (the guys) a lot of credit.”
With just 11 shots through two periods, Barrie’s (12-16-2-0) offence came to life just 48 seconds into the third when Riley Patterson, from behind the net, fed Tai York in front and the veteran winger lifted one over sprawled Kitchener goalie Jackson Parsons.
A little less than seven minutes later, York ripped his second of the game from the slot past Parsons to cut it to a one-goal lead, before Barrie’s struggling power play came through to tie it when, parked in front, Carter Lowe backhanded a rebound home at 11:03.
“That was kind of important,” Williamson said of York’s early goal that spurred the Colts on to rally. “When you have those talks in the room, kind of like Punnett did, and you get a response like we got and get a quick goal, then that kind of feeds everything.
“All of a sudden, we didn’t look quite as tired and some good things happened for us, and we made good plays. I thought we pushed the pace in the third period and did some things well.”
Matthew Sop would spoil the fun just 27 seconds into overtime on a pretty individual rush that he capped off by walking around Barrie goalie Ben West and tucking it on the short side.
“The boys had a good talk in the second intermission there and we just found a quick one in the third and we seemed to roll from there,” said York, who now has six goals on the season. “But it’s tough to lose that one in OT.”
It’s been a rough ending to the pre-Christmas schedule for the Colts who have suffered key injuries to Beau Akey, Jacob Frasca and Bode Stewart. A 2-8 run over the last 10 games has the club in ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings, four points behind the Kingston Frontenacs for the eighth final playoff spot.
Through their struggles, though, the young team has shown resiliency and an ability to get back themselves back up off the mat. Only a week ago at home against the Mississauga Steelheads, the Colts rallied from a 3-1 third period deficit to win 4-3 in overtime.
“It’s good to battle back like that,” said Patterson. “It shows the character of our team, that we’re able to do it. We cleaned up a couple of things in that first half (of the game), but to be able to come out in the third and tie it up like that shows character and was really positive.”
The Colts would match their total shots through two periods with 11 in the third. The determination to battle back came against a Kitchener team (24-8-2-0) that sits first overall and has double the points Barrie does.
“It’s awesome, especially with this group,” York said of Barrie’s never-say-die attitude. “We’re young, we don’t have a lot of older guys and Marty just tells us to keep working, bring our effort every game and whatever happens, happens.
“In the Mississauga game we come back and win that one, but not in this one. It sucks.”
Justin Bottineau, Trent Swick and Blair Scott scored to give the Rangers the 3-0 lead. West made some big stops to keep it close and keep his team in the game.
“He sure did, and he was good for us the night before,” said Williamson of his veteran’s play in a 5-2 loss to Brantford on Friday night. “We gave up some breakaways and that kind of stuff and we were leaking in some spots. We just don’t have everybody right now, so we got some tired guys out there and it cost us a little bit.”
The Colts will get a chance to recharge over the holiday break and more importantly, get some of their injured players back in the lineup. Frasca, Stewart and Nolan Newton are all expected to return when Barrie hosts Sudbury in the first game back on Dec. 28.
“This (10-day break) is going to help us, but we’re going to have to recoup after the break and start gearing up and playing our hearts out if we want to make a playoff spot here,” said York.
ICE CHIPS: The line of Beaudoin, Patterson and York had a strong finish to the unofficial first half of the season. The trio has combined for 11 goals and 26 points over their last eight games. “It’s nice playing with Beaudoin and Patterson. Their just two skilled guys,” said York. “We work in practice and it’s kind of nice to go out there and score two goals and everybody’s happy, but yeah it’s pretty awesome playing with those two and doing what we’re doing right now.” . . Kitchener outshot Barrie 30-22. . . It was a decent night for Barrie’s struggling special teams with the power-play unit connecting on one of two opportunities and the penalty-killing unit holding Kitchener scoreless on its two chances. . . Punnett and Beaudoin both had two assists. . . Barrie native Max Dirracolo, who just recently signed with the Rangers, made his OHL debut last night in his hometown. Other local connections for the Rangers included Barrie native Cam Mercer finishing with a solid plus two and Hunter Brzustewicz, who was sent to Kitchener in return for Declan McDonnell two years ago, drawing two assists.
Banner image via Terry Wilson / OHL Images
