Shorthanded Colts’ late rally falls short in Sudbury

Colts scored four times in a little more than four minutes to get within a goal

A valiant late effort by a depleted Barrie Colts team fell just short Sunday afternoon in Sudbury.

The Colts scored four times in a little more than four minutes to get within a goal, but the Sudbury Wolves would hang on for 6-5 win at Sudbury Community Arena.

A wild third period saw the Wolves, looking to avenge a 9-1 thumping at home to Barrie on Tuesday, break open a 2-1 contest with goals by Nick DeGrazia, with a pair, Ethan Larmand and Dominik Jendek.

But Barrie, without five of its top nine forwards, pushed to stage a late rally.

Rookie Roenick Jodoin scored, at 14:05 before Hunter Haight, Anthony Tabak, with his second of the game, and Nathan Allensen scored a little more than two minutes apart to make it 6-5.

Barrie pressed hard in the final 1:11, but unlike the previous night in Sault Ste. Marie (a 4-3 loss) when Brandt Clarke got it to overtime with one second remaining, the Colts simply ran out of time.

“We knew we were down a lot of bodies today and I thought we battled hard,” Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said after the game. “The game kind of slipped from us a little bit. I’ll give (the guys) a lot of credit because we could have just played out the last six minutes and got out of here, but our guys kept fighting and almost found a way to get one more shot and maybe get into overtime.”

“The boys really kept in it and we got it close, and unfortunately we didn’t get the final one there,” said Tabak, who also drew an assist to go with his pair of goals. “But it was good to see all the boys working hard until the end.”

Quentin Musty and Dylan Robinson also scored for the Wolves (13-22-3-1), who were outscored 25-7 in dropping all four previous meetings between the two Central Division rivals.

The Colts (20-10-4-0) were already without Ethan Cardwell (pending suspension), Evan Vierling (shoulder), Jacob Frasca (shoulder, concussion) and Ryan Del Monte (head), before losing Declan McDonnell in the final minute of the second on a checking to the head major and a game misconduct.

“We knew we were up against it a bit. It’s just one of those things,” Williamson said. “We’ve been pretty lucky with injuries and suspensions and it’s just coming at us in a little bit of a wave right now and we got to get through it.”

Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson will likely be with out five of his top nine forwards when the Colts resume OHL play later this week. Terry Wilson/OHL Images

With Cardwell facing a suspension after a shove Saturday night that led to Sault Ste. Marie’s Tanner Dickinson breaking his femur after crashing into the end boards, McDonnell was tossed from the game for a hit at centre ice on Sudbury’s Evan Konyen.

The Colts could find themselves without two of their top scorers.

“We’ll deal with the league on it,” Williamson said. “It’s one of those bang, bang plays. Whether he was a little high on it I haven’t looked at it or seen the video, so I’m not sure.

“But the major penalties are looked at by the league and we’ll find out this week with both forwards.”

Del Monte is still suffering repercussions from a hit to the head he took in Sudbury on Tuesday.

” Whether it’s just his nose bothering him, it’s kind of day-to-day, Williamson said. “We’ll see if he can make an appearance next weekend or whether he needs a full week off.”

Vierling injured his shoulder Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie and the Colts will get it evaluated this week to see how long he’ll be out.

Frasca will be at least a couple of more weeks.

“He’s got a concussion, plus his shoulder and rib injuries, so we’re not expecting him back anytime soon,” Williamson said.

The Colts will likely need reinforcements. Vlad Dvurechenski is expected to be called up from Collingwood while rookie forward prospect Zachary Wigle could be brought up from the Oakville Blades of the OJHL.

Wigle was an eighth-round pick of Barrie in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection.

“We’ll just plug them in and do our best. That’s all you can do,” Williamson said. “You got to weather these. It happens to almost every team unless you have a dream season where nothing happens.

“We’ll give some guys some opportunities and it’s going to be hard on them, but it’s going to be a great learning experience.”

The Colts will get a few days off before hosting the Kingston Frontenacs on Thursday night and then taking on the Oshawa General in a home-and-home weekend series.

“It doesn’t get any easier in this league,” Williamson said. “We’ll find out what our lineup looks like and if we can get an injured player or two back, we’ll give it our best we can. There’s always a silver lining and there’s some quality minutes for our young guys.

“I thought they battled hard and whether it’s another weekend or two like that we’ll get some more young guys in the lineup and learn from it. We know we can play with anybody in the league, we just got to get healthy and be smart at the right times.”

Game time Thursday at Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.

ICE CHIPS: With the COVID-19 restrictions being eased by the province, 500 fans will be allowed back into the rink. . . Captain Brandt Clarke earned three assists to increase his point streak to five games (2-8-10). Defensive partner Allensen also has a five-game point streak (2-7-9). . . Barrie native Mitchell Weeks made 31 saves to earn the win for Sudbury, while Matteo Lalama made 24 saves in goal for Barrie. . . The Colts scored twice on six power-play chances and are now tied with Hamilton for the league’s second-best power play (26 per cent). . . Ian Lemieux and McDonnell played their 100 OHL game.

feature image: Anthony Tabak – Terry Wilson/OHL Images

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