The Barrie Colts entered Saturday night looking to break a persistent trend that has plagued them in the third period all season.
While they put forth arguably their best final 20 minutes of the year - getting an early equalizer and outshooting the Niagara IceDogs - crippling mistakes once again cost them, leading to a 4-2 defeat at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines.
The Colts (1-6-1-0) have now been outscored 14-1 in third periods this season, a frustrating statistic for a young squad that has largely been competitive down the stretch in nearly every game.
Reflecting on the missed opportunities and the decisive shifts, Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz pointed to the razor-thin margin for error.
“We just can’t let one play affect our game,” said Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz, whose club outshot Niagara 33-25, including 15-8 in the third period. “I really liked our third period. I actually thought we got better as the game went on tonight. The first was our worst period by far, a little bit better in the second, and then really good in the third. Just unfortunate that we can't find the bounce here with that one that went behind the goalie, but it just didn’t cross the line.
“We had a couple other good looks, but, unfortunately, a bounce went their way, instead of our way, and that was kind of it.”
Barrie fought back to tie the game 2-2 early in the third, but Niagara (5-3) capitalized on critical defensive lapses to snatch the victory.
Ryerson Edgar’s shorthanded goal broke the deadlock at 13:34 of the final frame, forcing a turnover off Colts’ blueliner Justin Handsor before beating Matvei Nikonovich. Reyth Smith then put the game on ice with 3:55 remaining, firing a puck under Nikonovich, after a giveaway by the Pittsburgh Penguins’ goalie prospect.
The Colts had two glorious chances to take the lead when a puck got behind Niagara goaltender Connor Haffner, but teammate Callum Cheynowski prevented the puck from crossing the goal line. Then Ivan Galiyanov fired a bad passing attempt right to Sebastian Mogull in front of the net. The Barrie winger, though, was stopped by Haffner.
“It’s funny how they make a mistake, and we don’t capitalize, but we’re in the right spot,” Smoskowitz said. “Then we make a mistake, and they capitalize. It’s the way the game goes. Each team is going to make its mistakes. It just depends on who makes the least amount of mistakes and who’s able to capitalize. Tonight, it was their turn.”
The Colts found themselves chasing the game after a sluggish start. Layne Gallacher opened the scoring for Niagara at 10:37 of the first period. Eamon Edgar answered for Barrie on the power play in the opening frame, taking a feed from Wil Schneid in the slot and firing it past IceDogs netminder Connor Haffner.
Niagara reclaimed the lead just 1:13 into the second period on a power-play goal by Joey Banas. However, Barrie carried strong momentum into the third, where rookie defenceman Marc Ruggere wired a wrist shot past Haffner’s glove hand off a corner feed from Maxim Shirochenkov to tie it 2-2 at the 4:22 mark.
“It was a great shot by Ruggere,” Smoskowitz said of the rookie’s first OHL goal. “I’m proud of him for that. I thought he had a good game tonight.”
The Barrie bench boss felt his team had all the momentum at that point.
“I thought we were way more physical in the third,” he said. “I thought we were winning our races. We got guys to the net, made it harder on their defence, harder on their goalie. We just couldn’t get that third one.
“Then they get the third one, kind of a bad bounce on our power-play there, and then with the two-goal lead, the game was out of hand.”
Addressing why the third-period struggles have persisted, Smoskowitz emphasized that the team's issues are largely mental for a developing roster.
“We work hard in practice because we want to get better as the game goes on,” Smoskowitz said. “We want our last shift to be just as fast, just as intense as our first shift, and we kind of work on that. The guys are working on that at the gym. They work on that on the ice. I think it’s just between the ears at this point.
“With a young group, it’s just not getting too tight and not overthinking things. Just kind of simplifying it, playing their game.”
The Colts will have little time to dwell on Saturday’s result as they face a quick turnaround. The team is heading straight to Pennsylvania ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Erie Otters at 4 p.m. at the Erie Insurance Arena.
“Yeah, the coaches will have their laptops open on the bus on the way to Erie tonight,” Smoskowitz said. “We’ll cross the border and get into our hotel. We’ll have a couple of meetings tomorrow morning. Get stuck in on Erie and the game plan, and some things you want to adjust from tonight.
“You know 4 p.m. (Sunday) is going to roll around pretty quickly. Our guys will be ready, and looking forward to a good battle across the border.”
Erie enters the contest playing strong hockey, posting a 4-2-1 record over its last seven games, despite coming off a 3-0 loss to Ottawa on Saturday night.
“They’re a really good hockey team,” Smoskowitz noted. “I was just watching them for the last couple of weeks here in preparation for our game tomorrow. They’re a high-flying team. They play with pace, they play with skill, so it’s no easy task.
“It’s a really good team over there. So, we better be on our toes tomorrow and just make sure we’re doing all the right things.”
McCormick nearing return from ankle injury
Barrie forward Jonah McCormick has been sidelined since September 26th with an ankle injury and did not travel with the team to Erie. The coaching staff is hoping for a potential return targeted for Friday night against Brantford.
“Hopefully, we get him back on the ice next week,” said Smoskowitz.
Jaswal returns to the crease, is taking shots on ice
Expected starting goaltender Arvin Jaswal has yet to make his season debut due to a foot injury, but he is nearing a comeback. Jaswal has been taking shots in full gear following practices to rebuild his timing.
“Jazz is really close,” said Smoskowitz. “He hasn’t been on for a full practice yet, but he’s taking pucks after practice and moving in full gear. Just kind of getting his timing back.”
The team hopes he can join full team practices this week to evaluate his readiness for game action.
“From there, it just depends on how he feels and if his timing is back, and he’s seeing pucks well,” added Smoskowitz.
ICE CHIPS: Barrie was 1-for-4 on the power play, while Niagara finished 1-for-5… Russian import Shirochenkov now has two assists in two games… Former IceDog Michael Tang, acquired just before the start of the season, drew an assist against his old team and now has a pair of goals and three assists in eight games. Edgar leads the Colts in scoring with six points (2-4-6)… Veteran Luca Testa is still looking for his first point with the Colts after going scoreless in his first eight games.
