Back home for the first time in two years, Tyson Foerster found his favourite spot on the Sadlon Arena ice on a late first-period power play.
When Barrie Colts teammate Brandt Clarke teed him up inside the left faceoff circle, Foerster's one-time hammer reminded hometown fans just what they've been missing.
The Philadelphia Flyers prospect, with his first since returning to Barrie last week, and Beau Jelsma scored 39 seconds apart late in the first and Matteo Lalama, on in relief of injured starter Mack Guzda, turned aside 15 of 16 shots over the final two periods to power the Colts to a 2-1 win, Thursday night, over the Sudbury Wolves.
Seeing Foerster set up shop in a familiar neighbourhood and then deliver the goods certainly brought a smile to Colts head coach Marty Williamson, his teammates, and the 2,874 fans who roared after the one-timer.
"It's great," Williamson said of the Alliston native scoring in his first game back. "A couple of the young guys just spun around when he shot that and kind of went, 'Wow!'
"To be able to shoot like he does and put it in the places he does, there's no goalie that's making that save on that one."
Foerster started the season with AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms before suffering a shoulder injury in November that required him to have surgery and miss five months of action.
The 20-year-old, who scored 36 times and had 80 points in 62 games two seasons ago with Barrie, admits it felt good to get that first one in a familiar building.
"Obviously for being off so long, I haven't been scoring much the first three games. It felt good to be back, especially in front of the home crowd," said Foerster, who drew an assist in a three-game road swing last weekend.
"It's awesome to be back. We have a pretty good team, so hopefully, we can go on a nice run here."
The win moved Barrie (32-21-5-1) within seven points of both the third-place Kingston Frontenacs and fourth-place Mississauga Steelheads in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Colts have nine games remaining and hold three games in hand on Mississauga and one on Kingston in the race for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs.
"This one is huge," said Foerster, who along with his teammates will close out the weekend with a home date Saturday against London and a road trip to North Bay on Sunday afternoon. "This weekend's pretty big too, so hopefully we can catch them.
"If not, I still think we're a pretty good team."
The Colts appeared to have taken a 3-0 lead nearing midway through the second on what would have been Jelsma's second of the night, but instead, the goal was called back when a review showed Anthony Tabak was offside.
That gave Sudbury (22-33-3-3) a chance heading into the third and Landon McCallum made it real interesting when he cut the lead to one at the midway point of the period.
"They're a desperate team. We know they're going to play hard," Williamson said of the Wolves, who now trail Peterborough by five points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after the Petes topped Kingston, 6-4.
"They're fighting hard to get in the playoffs and we're still missing a lot of bodies."
The Wolves, aided by four power plays, pressed hard in the third, but for the second-straight game the Colts hung on for a 2-1 win thanks in large part to the play of their goalie.
Guzda, who returned to action last week after missing the previous two weeks, left the game after the first period when the same unspecified injury "flared up again."
Lalama came on to start the second and was stellar when needed, especially on a highlight-reel save he made in the period.
Ryan Smith, parked in front, had a wide-open cage, but as he shot Lalama dove back across the crease and got his stick out to keep the Wolves off the board.
"He was sick all week. He didn't practice either," Williamson said of Lalama. "He got on the ice this morning and the guys put him through the paces a little bit just in case and just in case happened.
"He's got that mindset where he's a pretty relaxed kid and he doesn't get too worked up about things, and it was his turn to go in there. We told him in between periods he was going in and he didn't bat an eyelash."
As for Guzda, the Colts are going to sit their overage starter for the remainder of the weekend.
"I don't think we're playing him this weekend," said the Colts head coach. "He's definitely going to be rested I think. We're looking at a week and we'll go from there."
Guzda wasn't the only Colt to leave last night's contest. Tai York blocked a shot with the inside of his skate late in the third and had to leave the game.
Both join an already long list on the sidelines. Even Vierling, Artur Cholach and Oliver Smith were all scratched with illnesses, while Jacob Frasca and Ryan Del Monte are still battling head injuries.
Williamson isn't sure if any will be back in the lineup on Saturday against London.
"The sick guys we just got to wait and see what we're getting tomorrow," he said. "It's the stomach flu and the flu going through us a little bit. We just hope we don't lose anybody else."
Game time Saturday at Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Williamson said the only thing that bothered him in the win was the undisciplined penalties in the third period. "You got to be smarter in tight games," he said. . . Sudbury overage goalie and Barrie native Mitchell Weeks was real good in what may be his final hometown appearance. The Wolves were outshot 41-26 with Weeks making 39 saves to keep his team in this one. . . Declan McDonnell drew two assists and now has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in 27 games with Barrie since being acquired at the trade deadline. . . The Wolves also had their own long list of those who were feeling under the weather and missed the game, including head coach Craig Duncanson. Associate coach Zach Stortini ran things behind the bench.
photos via OHL Images
