The Barrie Colts may have been down late to the North Bay Battalion on Saturday night, but thanks to Ben Wilmott and Arvin Jaswal, they were far from out.
Wilmott scored with 1:14 remaining to tie the game, then secured the shootout win, and Jaswal made multiple crucial saves as the Colts rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Troops before 4,256 fans at Sadlon Arena.
“There’s no quit in this group,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “I thought we gave them all they could handle tonight. I give (North Bay) a lot of credit. They blocked shots, they played hard. They didn’t give us much, but we kept coming and coming.”
Down 2-1 and on a power play, Emil Hemming fought off the Battalion’s Ethan Procyszyn along the boards and fired a perfect backhanded pass from behind the net to Wilmott in front. The trade deadline acquisition ripped a one-timer over the blocker of North Bay goalie Jack Lisson to help Barrie draw even.
Jaswal then made a crucial save in the final seconds, forcing overtime. After a tense period featuring key stops and a Colts penalty kill, Wilmott secured the win with a backhanded deke on the lone shootout goal in the fifth round.
The red-hot Wilmott now has five goals in his last four games and 10 goals and 18 points in just 13 games since being acquired from the London Knights.
“It was a really, really good set-up there,” said Smoskowitz of Wilmott’s equalizer. “Hemming was kind of a man possessed on that play. Guys were breaking their sticks (on him), crosschecking him, and he just powered right through.
“Then Wilmott, clutch. Ice in his veins. Whatever you want to say, he’s that kind of guy. He’s hot right now, and we’re going to ride the hot hand for as long as he stays hot.”
The late rally was possible, thanks in large part to Jaswal’s play in goal. The Barrie goaltender, who kicked aside 27 of 29 shots on the night, was spectacular in keeping the Colts close in the third period.
With a little more than four minutes remaining, he made a huge stop on a Nick Wellenreiter breakaway and again on the rebound collected by Kaden Pitre.
The rookie goalie then stoned Pitre again on a two-on-one in the dying seconds with a huge pad save off a one-timer.
He also made multiple saves in overtime and stopped all five shootout attempts. Jaswal has now turned aside 16 of the 18 shootout attempts he’s faced this season.
“It’s kind of crazy. Every night, I keep telling everyone about our goalies and how they keep us in,” said Smoskowitz of Jaswal and Ben Hrebik. “You show me a good goalie, and I’ll show you a good team. It doesn’t matter who we put in net right now. We have these guys in net for us that give us a chance to win, no matter what happens.
“It’s been a real pleasure, as a hockey fan myself, watching these guys go to work and put these efforts night in and night out.”
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
The NHL goalie prospect has now won eight straight games and holds an impressive 2.35 goals against average and .926 save percentage.
“He’s a workhorse,” Smoskowitz said of Jaswal. “Dave Belitski (goalie coach) is known for his hard work sessions. He grinds our guys pretty good when he gets a hold of them, and Jazzy is always asking for more.”
Smoskowitz gets a kick out of seeing his young goalie’s game-day preparation.
“Everybody says goalies are weird, but Jazzy is pretty much acting like it’s already a game in the stands,” he said, before laughing out loud. “I see him with his glove and blocker, and he’s imagining making saves, and his head is moving, and his eyes are moving. He looks like he’s possessed when you look at him in the stands.
“He’s dialed in, so I’m not going to change a thing. Whatever he’s doing right now is working for him, and I’m just really proud of the kid.”
Also dialed in was Lisson. The North Bay rookie, who turned aside 44 of 46 shots, stoned Wilmott, Cole Beaudoin, and Kashawn Aitcheson on attempts in close in overtime.
“It took a power play to kind of break through there in the third, but credit to our special teams tonight,” said Smoskowitz. “The power play came through with the tying goal, and the penalty kill held the fort down in overtime.
“We had a couple of big kills during regulation, so it was kind of that special teams key battle tonight, which we won.”
The win moved Barrie (34-11-2-4), which has won four straight and 15 of its last 17 games (15-1-1-0), to within two points of the Brantford Bulldogs atop the Eastern Conference standings.
They need just a single point to lock down a playoff spot.
“So, what, you’re in the playoffs,” said Smoskowitz. “Does that mean we’re going to take our foot off the gas? No. Are we going to give up a day? No. If we clinch a playoff spot, it’s a great moment for the guys. It’s a great milestone to be had, but at the end of the day, we just have to keep winning these days.
Smoskowitz has preached a day-by-day approach, and he loves that the players have bought into it.
“The guys understand how important it is to win day-by-day, by day, and if they don’t understand it, they just have to look at the results,” he added. “The results speak for themselves. These guys are winning day after day. They’re winning hockey games. We just got to keep the winning going.”
Jaiden Newton opened the scoring at 13:37 of the first period when he banked one from the side of the net off the pad of Lisson and in.
Pitre tied things up just 1:24 into the second before a shorthanded marker by former Colt Shamar Moses put the Battalion (26-21-2-1) up midway through the third.
The Colts, though, wouldn’t let that lead stand.
“It took a power play to kind of break through there in the third, but credit to our special teams tonight,” said Smoskowitz. “The power play came through with the tying goal, and the penalty kill would hold the fort down in overtime.
“We had a couple of big kills during regulation, so it was kind of that special teams key battle tonight, which we won.”
UP NEXT
Barrie wraps up a busy three-in-three weekend and its home-and-home set with North Bay on Sunday afternoon at the Boart Longyear Memorial Gardens.
“I might pull out the cot in my office and sleep at the rink,” joked Smoskowitz. “The bus is leaving here shortly after 9 a.m., so the guys are going to get a quick sleep. We’ll have a nice post-game meal here in our lounge, and they’ll have a nice breakfast here waiting for them at the rink.
“I’m sure 90 per cent of them will probably shut their eyes on the two-and-a-half-hour drive up to North Bay, but no excuses. We’re prepared for this.”
ICE CHIPS
Luc Gauvreau sat out the first of his two-game suspension.
Barrie’s Justin Handsor (upper body) returned to the lineup after missing a game.
Barrie was 1-for-3 on the man advantage, while North Bay was scoreless on three chances.
Barrie now leads the Central Division by 19 points over North Bay and Niagara.
Beaudoin had a game-high 10 shots on goal.
ADD. OHL
Ottawa 5 Brantford 1
Sarnia 2 Brampton 1
Flint 3 Erie 1
Niagara 4 Kitchener 3
Peterborough 4 Sudbury 1
London 5 Saginaw 3
