Held off the scoreboard over three periods, and his 15-game point streak on the line, Barrie Colts centre Cole Beaudoin couldn’t have picked a better time to keep it going Wednesday night in Owen Sound.
Beaudoin saved his best for last, setting up Riley Patterson 1:21 into overtime on a backdoor pass to give the Colts a 4-3 win over the Attack at Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.
The top NHL prospect now has nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points over his 16-game run, which is the fifth-longest scoring streak this season.
“It was a great play,” Colts head coach Marty Williamson said of the overtime winner which helped snap Barrie’s three-game losing streak. “They were a little bit tired and it was a nice play by (Kashawn) Aitcheson to get it up right away, and Beaudoin just overpowered (Deni Goure) and then made a great spin move around him. Then to have that vision to make that great backdoor play.
“(Beaudoin) was a horse all night. I thought he had a fantastic game and would be rewarded during the game, but he played really well for us.”
With the win, Barrie (22-28-3-0) moved seven points up on the Peterborough Petes and eight up on the Niagara IceDogs in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
With just 15 games remaining on the regular season schedule, it was an important win.
“It was a big two points for us,” said Williamson, whose club still holds a game in hand on the Petes and two on the IceDogs. “We had lost three in a row, and we had some games in hand on the teams below us and we wanted to take advantage of it.”
Barrie (22-28-3-0) appeared like they wouldn’t need extra time to get things done on this night after Jack Brauti and Bode Stewart scored 1:20 apart late in the second period to make it 3-1 heading into the third, but penalty trouble, as it has often done this season, derailed those plans.
Ethan Burroughs scored on the power play at 10:40 and then Goure struck again on the man advantage less than three minutes later to tie the game for Owen Sound (25-24-5-2).
“We talked about (penalties) and thought we were going to get that,” said Williamson, who thought one of the penalty calls was soft. “I think it’s the fundamentals on our penalty kill and we really got to try and figure this out before the playoffs.”
Beau Jelsma hit his own milestone in the first to open the scoring at 8:12 when Aitcheson sprung him in alone on a long pass from deep in the Barrie zone and the Colts’ captain raced in and backhanded it over Attack goalie Carter George.
The goal was his 25th and gave him 62 points on the season, setting a new career season high.
Orillia’s Colby Barlow would finally solve Ben West with just over four minutes left in the first to tie it. With Barrie off to a slow start, West was outstanding early.
He kicked aside 14 shots and made two sensational stops when he stoned Burroughs on a cross-crease one-timer less than five minutes in and then made back-to-back toes saves to rob Landen Hookey later.
That allowed the Colts some cover as they got stronger as the game went along.
“We weren’t happy with the first period,” said Williamson. “I thought we were a little bit off and weren’t thinking the game the proper way, but I thought our second period was fantastic and that’s what kind of set us up for the third.
“You get a late one going into the third period and quite often good things happen. They came back to tie it, but still we were in this game and we find a way to win it in overtime.”
The game marked the return of Chris Grisolia to the Barrie lineup. The veteran forward had been out since Dec. 30th with an ankle injury and missed 22 games.
“I thought he looked really good,” Williamson said of Grisolia, who was held pointless. “I kind of relied on him out there. We had him with (Zach) Wigle and Jelsma and I thought he played really well. He’s one of those kids you root for. He’s a great teammate and I thought he brought a little energy to the bench. Just seeing him back on the ice, the guys were really happy.”
Barrie is now 3-3-1 on the road since snapping a 12-game losing skid in Flint on Feb. 2nd.
“There’s a lot more confidence and that’s what a couple of wins do for you,” Williamson said of the recent success away from home. “It’s how we’re playing. We’ve played well. We don’t take too many nights off and even if we have a bad period, we’re able to right our ship a little bit. There’s a couple of teams that can overwhelm us a little bit, but I think this group has played really well.”
The Colts return to action Saturday night when they host the division rival Mississauga Steelheads before closing out another busy weekend Sunday night on the road against the Oshawa Generals.
Players will get a day off Thursday before returning to practice on Friday ahead of Saturday’s contest.
“It was tough last game in there,” said Williamson of a 5-4 loss in Mississauga earlier this month. “We love playing them and it’s another game where if we keep playing like we are then we got a good chance of coming out with points.
“We’re playing well at home, and Mississauga is pretty stingy. They got the No. 1 defence going, so you got to play the right way against them to be able to try and get points out.”
Game time Saturday at Sadlon Arena is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: West made 39 saves to earn first-star honours. . . Brauti’s seventh of the season late in the second was a beauty, taking a nice drop pass from Tai York inside the blue line and wiring it top corner over the glove hand of George. “It sure was,” said Williamson. “I think our whole defence core has been outstanding since the Saginaw game.” . . . Aitcheson had two helpers and was a physical force all night. . . Patterson’s 23rd of the season was his OHL rookie-leading 23rd of the season and moved him back into a tie with Branford’s Jake O’Brien for the rookie scoring lead (51).
banner image: Terry Wilson - OHL Images
