These last couple of weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster ride for Sam Hillebrandt, but a short memory has helped the Barrie Colts rookie goaltender get back on track in impressive form.
For the second straight night, Hillebrandt sparkled in goal and held off another late charge to help the Colts complete a weekend sweep with a 4-2 win over the North Bay Battalion, Saturday night, at Sadlon Arena.
Less than 24 hours after making 31 stops, including all 18 in the third period, to lead Barrie (9-8) to a 3-1 win in Mississauga, Hillebrandt was once again a force.
The Florida native kicked aside 33 shots and held back a determined Troops march in the final period, this time stopping 17 of 18 shots to help Barrie polish of a trio of wins in three nights.
“He’s been outstanding,” Colts head coach Marty Williamson said of his young goaltender who has played in just 13 OHL games. “When you got a young team and your kind of tired at times you need that kind of goaltending and he’s been outstanding. He’s got a great demeanour about him; he goes about his business in practice.
“He’s kind of an unassuming guy, but boy is he a gamer. He just shows up and really was the backbone of both victories. I thought (overage goalie Ben West) did a good job at the start of the weekend, so goaltending is kind of the strength of our team right now.”
Hillebrandt was riding a high two weeks ago when the OHL named him Goaltender of the Week for giving just a goal in each of the wins over Mississauga and Brantford.
Then came the adversity in an 8-3 loss in Ottawa last Sunday when he was yanked for the first time in his junior career midway through the second period after giving up four goals on 19 shots.
The composed young goaltender put the rough start aside and after his two performances this weekend now sports an impressive 2.46 goals against average and .923 save percentage.
He’s given up two goals or less in six of his 10 starts.
“The biggest thing is it’s in the past, forget about it and move on,” Hillebrandt said of his ability to put the rough start behind him. “Even with a good game, you just got to forget about it and move on and worry about the next game.”
Down 3-1 with just 1:46 remaining, the Battalion (8-6-3-1) made it a game on a fluke shorthanded goal by Justin Ertz. He fired a puck out of the corner that hit the skate of captain Connor Punnett and bounced past Hillebrandt.
Rookie Shamar Moses, with his third goal in the last three games, provided a sigh of relief for the hometown fans when restored Barrie’s two-goal lead just 57 seconds later.
Hillebrandt would then put a cherry on top of a sweet performance in the dying seconds.
The Barrie goalie robbed Anthony Romain off a rebound in front of the net, diving across the crease and getting his stick down to stop what appeared to be a sure goal.
“The biggest thing is just one shot at a time,” said Hillebrandt. “No matter what happens the previous time, just focus on the next shot at hand.”
Playing without injured veteran stalwarts Beau Akey, Jacob Frasca and Zach Wigle proved no problem for the youngest lineup of the season for Barrie.
Rookies Jaiden Newton and Evan Passmore slid into the lineup and while rookie Jack Brauti, who scored his first OHL goal, and second-year defender Kashawn Aitcheson, who also scored, helped provide some offence.
Veteran Beau Jelsma, who had a power-play goal and two assists and now has four goals and six assists in his last seven games, was a force once again.
“These young guys, they’re a lot of fun to be around,” said Williamson. “We pushed them hard tonight. I was tough on them in that third period because I knew they were tired and I was trying to keep their focus, but they’re playing really well.
“They’re doing a heck of a job for us and there’s a real good energy on our team. We knew we had nine tough periods (this weekend). We had some tough teams, and we did awfully well.”
It was also a big night for Brauti on the blue line who found the back of the net for the first time this season just past the midway point of the first.
Passmore, who recorded his first point on the play, slid it across to Brauti, who hammered a fast-rising one-timer from just inside the blue line through traffic and over the blocker of Battalion goalie Charlie Robertson to open the scoring.
“It’s obviously great to get that,” said the 17-year-old Thornhill native. “You don’t want to be waiting too long in the season to get your first one. It’s good to get in this game, get the momentum early and just keep moving.”
“I just thought grip and rip it,” added the six-foot, 165-pound defender who was Barrie’s sixth-round pick in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection. “It did so, and it went in.”
Brauti, who sat out two games early in the season, is quickly developing into a defender that Williamson can count on for key minutes.
“I think Jack Brauti has kind of gone unnoticed out there and, boy, he’s playing well for us,” said the Colts head coach. “He’s got just a wiry ruggedness to him. We know Aitcheson is going to be a really good player and he’s blossoming into that. Jack’s a bit of a surprise for us, just how well he’s doing and how competitive he is.
“There’s a lot of really good qualities to him that he’s going to be extremely useful to us down the road.”
Williamson was happy with the play of all of his young group on the point.
“Evan is getting his feet wet and he’s going to get them wetter because Akey is out for a couple of weeks here, so Passmore is just going to keep playing and he’s a big, strong right-shot guy that we really need,” Williamson said of the defender who was playing just his fourth OHL career game. “We’re excited to see the growth of him here too.”
Jacob Therrien cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second period, but despite North Bay hanging tough, a Barrie team missing three key veterans held strong.
“You’ve got to deal with adversity at one point during the season and it looks like we are going through that right now,” Hillebrandt said. “It’s the next guy up mentality.”
The Colts will return to action next Thursday night when they travel to St. Catharines to take on the Niagara IceDogs. Game time at the Meridian Centre is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: The Colts held a special Remembrance Day ceremony before the contest. . . Williamson said after the game that Moses reminds him of former Barrie forwards Stefan Della Rovere and Anthony Camara. “That kind of rugged, power forward that has just this confidence to him and can make plays,” he said of the 19th pick overall in this year’s draft. “This guy really might have a bigger package than even those guys. It’s going to be real fun just watching him continue to grow as he keeps getting stronger.” . . . Eduard Sale’s parents flew in from Czechia Thursday night to visit the Seattle Kraken prospect. Sale had an assist. . . Punnett drew an assist and is now fifth in scoring among OHL defencemen with four goals and 18 points. . . North Bay outshot Barrie 35-28. . . The Colts finished 1-for-7 on the man advantage, while the penalty kill held the Battalion scoreless on four chances. Saturday’s attendance of 3,977 fans was the largest of the season.
Banner image via Josh Kim/Barrie Colts - Jack Brauti celebrates his first career OHL goal in Barrie's 4-2 win over the North Bay Battalion, Saturday night, at Sadlon Arena.
