Big third period rallies Colts past IceDogs

A rare tough start proved to be no problem for the streaking Barrie Colts on Thursday night in St. Catharines.

Thanks to a huge third period that featured an equalizer by Ben Wilmott just 18 seconds in, a game-winning power-play goal by Calvin Crombie, and an insurance marker by Brad Gardiner, the Colts rallied to beat the Niagara IceDogs, 5-3, to improve their impressive win streak to 10 games.

Emil Hemming, with his fifth and sixth goals in his last five games, also scored for Barrie (29-10-2-4), which found itself tied 1-1 and with a head coach who was none-too-pleased with its play in the opening 20 minutes.

While Dylan Smoskowitz liked the second more, even though they gave up two goals and trailed 3-2, the third period was much more to his taste in this one.

“We haven’t had a game like this in a while, where we’re down and, kind of, fighting it, and not being ourselves. But the third period was Barrie Colts hockey,” said Smoskowitz, whose club was trailing 3-2 after the second on Niagara goals by Ryan Roobroeck and Chase Hull’s second of the game. “I’m just really proud of the guys for understanding what it takes, and not getting frustrated, and not turning on each other. Sticking together and just getting the job done.

“We told them, ‘We just have to win (the third period),’ and they definitely did that. So, kudos to them.”

Arriving at the rink later than usual didn’t help Barrie’s start in this one. Snow squalls in the area resulted in messy driving conditions, which led to a few fender benders and a traffic back-up.

That left little time for game preparation and warmups, but the Colts found a way to battle through adversity.

“A lot of the guys didn’t really have time to get focused or dialed in,” said Crombie. “You have to turn it around quickly when you’re coming in late with traffic, and that’s unpredictable. It’s a veteran squad, and it may take a period or two to really realize what was going on.

“We had no doubt at all the whole time. We were ready to go in that third, and we took it from there.”

Did they ever.

The top line of Cole Beaudoin, Wilmott, and Hemming tied it up when Beaudoin drove to the net and fired a backhand that Niagara goalie Vladislav Yermolenko stopped, but the rebound went to Wilmott, who buried it for his 17^th of the season and fifth in seven games as a Colt.

“They’re phenomenal,” said Crombie of the talented trio.

“When that first line comes out, that’s what they do. They get a goal right off the bat, and it jump-starts us,” he said.

Barrie would grab the lead a little more than eight minutes later on a highlight-reel pass from Gardiner.

Parker von Richter slid it behind the IceDogs’ net, and the overage centre jumped on the loose puck and immediately found Crombie moving in.

Crombie fired it over the shoulder of Yermolenko for his second game-winner of the season with just two seconds remaining on the power play.

“I got to give full credit to Gardiner,” said Crombie. “We have two power-play units that are equally good. Gardiner’s a great player, and he found me, and I put it in the back of the net.

“It was a great pass.”

Smoskowitz was happy to see the line of Gardiner, Crombie and Zebesky hit the scoresheet.

“We can’t really call them a second unit,” says the coach, who credits assistant coach Dennis Martindale for his work with both power-play units. “Dennis says it all the time, ‘we got power play and we got power play.’

“Whoever is going that night is going to do the job for us.”

Niagara (20-19-3-1), which had just four shots in the third, didn’t get its first in the period until the 8:48 mark.

“That was just hard work,” said Smoskowitz of shutting down the IceDogs. “Winning races. Winning battles. Getting above pucks and making it hard on them.”

The Colts’ bench boss felt the Colts made it too easy for the home team in the first. While the second was better, he said his team recognized it had more in the tank in the third.

“It’s not easy to just flip a switch and come back from that,” he said. “Usually, we start a game pretty hot, and we roll the momentum through the 60 minutes, but when you have a really bad 20, and you’re going to the third still down one, and you haven’t had your best stuff, it’s really hard to just kind of flip that switch.

“Our guys found a way tonight, and, as a coach, it was pretty fun to watch out there.”

After the power play had done its part in the third, the penalty kill followed up by killing off a pair of penalties, including a two-man advantage for 1:04 with a little more than eight minutes remaining.

“These guys were dialed in,” said Smoskowitz. “They were blocking shots. They knew their assignments.”

The Colts will look to add to their 11-game point streak (10-0-1-0) when they return home to host the Brampton Steelheads on Saturday night.

While its hot run has them within three points of the Ottawa 67’s and Brantford Bulldogs atop the Eastern Conference standings, Barrie’s focus remains on where it has been all season.  

“We don’t talk about in the room, to be honest with you,” Crombie said of the streak. “Same way we don’t talk about what’s happening in April, or what’s happening in two days. We talk about today, and what’s happening today.

“Whatever is on the table for today, that’s our focus. That’s our main goal. Win today, don’t worry about tomorrow. Whatever is going on today, we need to win it. Focus on that, and don’t worry about tomorrow.”

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

ICE CHIPS: Emotions boiled over after the final buzzer as players from both teams got into a wrestling match at centre ice. A goalie fight also nearly happened when Ben Hrebik and Yermolenko dropped their masks and gloves and stared down one another from their respective blue lines before cooler heads prevailed. . . Beaudoin added two assists and now sits sixth overall in OHL scoring (18-37-55), including four goals and 14 points in his last 7 games. . .  von Richter, who left the game for a short while in the first period to get stitched up after being high-sticked, also added a pair of assists and now has two goals and five points in his two games. . . Roorbroeck’s early second-period goal was ruled good after a lengthy video review found it wasn’t off a high stick. . .  Gardiner’s 21 goals are a career high. . . Barrie outshot Niagara 30-18. . . Colts’ forward Joseph Salandra (illness) missed his third-straight game. . . IceDogs’ leading scorer and former Colts forward Riley Patterson missed his fourth-straight game with an injury.