Evan Passmore was excited to be back in the Barrie Colts lineup Sunday afternoon in Sarnia and it certainly showed.
Fresh off his five-game suspension for bullying, the defenceman was a steady force from the drop of the puck, scoring once and adding an assist to help the Colts wrap up a winning weekend on the road with a 5-2 victory over the Sting at Progressive Auto Sales Arena.
“It feels good to be back,” said Passmore, who helped Barrie take two of three games on the western road swing. “It was a good team win, and I’m glad we came out with that win.”
The NHL draft prospect admits it wasn’t easy having to watch from the seats over the last couple of weeks.
“It’s definitely tough for sure, not being out there knowing I can do things to help,” said the 17-year-old, who earned a C rating on the NHL Central Scouting preliminary list released a month ago. “I’m glad (the suspension’s) over now.”
The Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson was happy to have his blueliner back.
“Passmore was a force out there,” said Williamson. “I thought he was physical and played a real good game for us. It’s nice to see him back and you could tell he had lots of energy.”
Cole Beaudoin, with a pair, Grayson Tiller, and Michael Derbidge, with his first of the season, also scored for the Colts (15-7) who moved ahead of the Niagara IceDogs atop the Central Division standings.
Beckham Edwards scored both goals for Sarnia (8-13-1-3), which has won just once in its last eight games.
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After kicking off the road trip Thursday with a disappointing effort in a 2-1 loss to the Windsor Spitfires, the Colts bounced back with a 3-2 win Saturday over the Flint Firebirds and Sunday’s defeat of Sarnia.
“Obviously we would have loved to get that win in Windsor, but sometimes it doesn’t happen,” said Passmore. “I think we bounced back from that good getting these two final wins on the road trip here.”
Williamson told his team after the game they did what they had to do.
“We didn’t start the weekend off like we wanted to,” he said. “I thought we played an awfully good game in Flint and (today) we wondered a bit, but they were fresh. (Sarnia) only had a home game on Friday and did have some good legs under them.
“We pushed our guys, and I thought they did a good job.”
It was another good defensive team effort from the Colts who have given up a league-fewest 60 goals against in 22 games.
Barrie held Sarnia to just 15 shots through two periods, though Williamson admits he was “pretty disappointed” with the defensive play in the first period, feeling his team gave up too many chances despite coming out of the frame with a 1-0 lead.
“I thought offensively we were good early,” said Williamson, whose club hit two posts to start the contest. “I thought we had our legs, but the problem was we just weren’t good defensively. We weren’t seeing things, and we were just kind of a one-dimensional team. Yeah, we did some real good offensive things, but we need to do it both ways.
“We left guys open; we left guys in front of the net uncovered and Sam (Hillebrandt) made some big saves in the net in that first period to get us through it. Then, I think, we saw our true team. We had the chances in the second period and we really didn’t give up anything.”
Barrie scored three times in the middle frame to take control of the game.
“I thought our second period was outstanding,” said Williamson. “It’s the way we kind of played in Flint and then a couple of unlucky breaks in the third period. The one that ricochets off someone and the one that Hillebrandt would like to have back, but they kept their composure.”
Passmore helped get the offence started when his point shot was deflected in front by Tiller a little under 14 minutes into the opening period.
The hulking defenceman, who went scoreless in 53 games last year, got his third of this season when he took a feed from Beau Jelsma and walked to the top of the right faceoff circle and wired a shot over the glove of Sarnia goalie Nick Surzycia.
“I think of myself as a defensive defenceman, but anytime I can contribute offensively and help the team in that aspect I’m proud of that,” said Passmore of his offensive contributions.
Life on the road has been pretty good for Barrie, which boasts an impressive 9-4 record away from home.
“Our road record has been pretty strong, so we’re pretty happy about that,” said Williamson, whose club has played four more games away from Sadlon Arena. “I’d like to get a little more consistency at home. Our home record (6-3) is OK too, but we’ve struggled in some areas of the game at home.
“Our power play at home has not been too good where our power play on the road has been not too bad.”
The Colts kick off a home-and-home set with the Sudbury Wolves on Thursday before wrapping up their three-in-three weekend back at home Saturday night against the Brantford Bulldogs.
Game time against the Wolves Thursday at Sadlon Arena is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Beau Jelsma recorded his 200th OHL career point with an assist on Beaudoin’s first goal. The Colts captain, who finished with two assists, now has 101 goals and 100 assists in 215 OHL games. . . Colts defenceman Kashawn Aitcheson will represent the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) in the inaugural 2024 CHL USA Prospect Challenge beginning Tuesday night in London. The second game goes Wednesday in Oshawa. . . Beau Akey’s assist gave him six points (1G, 5A) in his last six games. . . Jaiden Newton has five points (5A) in his last five games. . . Barrie was 1-for-3 on the power play, while Sarnia finished 1-for-5. . . Sarnia outshot Barrie 27-25.
