Death, taxes, and Kashawn Aitcheson scoring in overtime.
Nothing seems more certain these days, especially for the Barrie Colts.
The superstar defenceman was up to his heroics once again, scoring his second overtime winner in as many nights to help cap off a 3-2 Barrie comeback win over the Sarnia Sting, Thursday night, at Sadlon Arena.
Less than 24 hours after firing the OT winner 30 seconds into the extra frame in an emotional 5-4 win over the CHL’s top-ranked Brantford Bulldogs, the New York Islanders prospect delivered once again when he pounced on a rebound in front just 20 seconds in to give Barrie (6-7-0-3) its third-straight win.
“He’s just built for the moment, and the moment can never be too big for Kash,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz of the Islanders’ 15th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. “I think the Islanders saw that. I think a lot of teams saw that. We’re so fortunate to have him on our team here and as one of our leaders.
“It’s a guy we depend on. He plays big minutes for us, and he lays it all on the line every singles shift, every single night. He deserves all of it.”
Aitcheson's penchant for coming up big at key moments can be found in the numbers. After recording four overtime winners last season, Aitcheson already has a pair in just 16 games this year.
With three game-winning goals, he’s also already halfway to his team-leading six goals of last season.
Aitcheson, as usual, gave credit to his teammates. Emil Hemming set up the winner in Brantford, and last night he slid home a rebound off a Cole Beaudoin shot from the point.
“Honestly, I think it’s just a credit to the high-end players we got here,” said the six-foot-two, 203-pound Toronto native who leads all OHL defencemen in scoring with nine goals. “Tonight, it was Cobo and Hemmer last night. Just two pretty passes and I was just lucky to put it in.”
On both goals, Aitcheson came in from the point during the three-on-three overtime. In Brantford, he drove to the net and took a pass from Hemming before putting it in the top corner.
Against the Sting, he parked himself in front and pounced on a rebound off the pad of goalie Charlie Larocque.
“It’s from our coaching structure,” said Aitcheson, when asked about his instinct to go to the net. “You kick out, you drive hard to the net, and obviously, I say, ‘You want bagels, you go to the bakery. You want goals, you go to the net.’
“So, that’s kind of what happened.”
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Aitcheson’s heroics helped erase what was anything but a pretty game by the Colts. Sarnia (4-7-3-0), which has now lost four straight and eight of its last 10, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Beckham Edwards, on the power play, and Cameron Aucoin.
Barrie, which looked sluggish and was generating few chances, cut the lead in half just 42 seconds after Aucoin’s marker, when a collision between two Sting players and Hemming allowed Joe Salandra to walk in alone and put an impressive deke to the forehand on Larocque.
While Barrie goaltender Arvin Jaswal held the fort, Alex Assadourian would even things up at 11:25 of the third period when Salandra found him in the high slot, and the overager walked in and ripped one short side.
While it wasn’t one of their memorable efforts, it got the job done on a night where the Colts clearly weren’t at their best.
“It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty,” Smoskowitz said he told his team when he walked into the dressing room after the game. “It’s not every night you’re going to have your best. It’s not every night, your body is going to feel the best, and pucks will bounce on you, and stuff like that.
“There were a lot of opportunities for our guys to shut down and give up. We got the points in Brantford last night, and you come back here and you don’t have your best, you’re not feeling your best, but I’m very proud of the group for sticking with it.”
The Colts continued to grind it out, and they leaned on Jaswal, who made 33 saves.
“Definitely not our best game at all,” said Aitcheson. “We could have been so much better. We don’t win that game without Jaswal in the net. He was unbelievable for us.
“So, we’re going to come in tomorrow and get back to work and get back to the drawing board and be ready for a better game against Erie (on Saturday).”
Smoskowitz knew if his club could get it into an extra frame, he liked their chances with the big three of Aitcheson, Hemming, and Beaudoin out there.
Especially with the way Jaswal was playing.
“So proud of him,” Smoskowitz said of his young goalie. “He did not get any help from our group tonight. He was the reason we had a chance to come back in the third period. I think the other 19 guys who were dressed tonight owe him a big hug and probably a dinner, or at least a coffee at the next Tim’s stop.”
The Colts will have an opportunity to make it four in a row when the Otters come to town on Saturday night.
Another win would help them further get rid of the bad taste a recent six-game skid left.
“These points are huge because of some of the points we lost out on earlier in the year,” said Smoskowitz. “Again, it’s not that we felt we were playing so poorly. It’s almost the opposite of tonight, where we felt we should have had a better fate but didn’t get the two points. Tonight, we probably didn’t deserve the two points, but, lo and behold, we got them. It’s just the hockey Gods evening them out, but you don’t want to leave everything to the hockey Gods. You want to learn from it.
“We’re going to bring these guys in tomorrow, and they’re going to have an easy day on the ice, as we’ve had a lot of hockey the last two days, and some really competitive games. We’ll do some video, have a nice little stretch, and come back on Saturday against Erie, and be ready to rock and roll.”
Game time is 7:30 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Colts thought they tied the contest early in the third when a Calvin Crombie shot appeared to have been dragged over the goal line by the pad of Larocque, but a lengthy review confirmed the no-goal call by officials. . . Eamon Edgar sat out the contest after a collision at centre ice the night before in Brantford. “He just got banged up a little bit,” said Smoskowitz. “It was a weird collision. So, it was just for precautionary reasons.” . . . The Colts held their annual Halloween costume contest in between periods. . . Barrie held the edge in shots, 36-35. . . Salandra now has a goal and five points in his last four games. Beaudoin extended his point streak to six games (3-6-9) and now has 19 points in 11 games.
