The Barrie Colts played their best game of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night in Oshawa but it still wasn’t enough and now find themselves on the brink of elimination after a heartbreaking 7-6 double-overtime loss to the Generals at the Tribute Communities Centre.
Luke Torrance hammered home a one-timer past Sam Hillebrandt on a soft pass from Beckett Sennecke at 8:44 of the fifth period to give the Generals a commanding 3-0 series lead in the best-of-seven series.
This coming after Owen Griffin, with goaltender Jacob Oster on the bench for an extra attacker, tied the game in dramatic fashion and forced overtime with just 1:04 remaining.
Oshawa can advance to the OHL championship with a win in Game 4 on Thursday night back on home ice.
“You always love the way they battle and how hard they play,” Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said of his team, before admitting it would take a little time to digest the loss. “It’s a painful loss. There’s no doubt about it. To give up a goal in the final seconds and then to lose in overtime is a tough way to lose a hockey game.
“We’ll talk about the positives tomorrow. It’s a tough one.”
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Colts’ overager Owen Van Steensel has been in this position each of the last three seasons when he and the North Bay Battalion were eliminated in the conference finals, including last year when they trailed Oshawa 3-0 before rallying to force a Game 7 they would eventually lose.
Barrie faced a playoff exit in Game 7 against Kingston in the last round and the veteran says he and his teammates will be ready.
“The games get bigger as the season goes on,” said Van Steensel, who had a goal and assist. “This team has seen an elimination game before, and we handled it well. We got a couple of them coming up, but we’re ready for the challenge.”
A Barrie turnover inside the Oshawa blueline would lead to a three-on-two rush the other way and the overtime winner.
Luca D’Amato slid the puck into the middle for Sennecke who teed it up for Torrance to drive it past Barrie goalie Sam Hillebrandt.
Hillebrandt desperately tried to get across the crease in time, but he had little chance. The Barrie goalie was down on his knees for several minutes after the winning goal.
“It was my biggest goal of my career so far,” said Torrance, who was scoreless in seven previous playoff games. “ At that moment in OT, you’re kind of playing hockey and not really thinking. Your mind is going, but your body is fatigued.
“I think it was a turnover in the neutral zone and (D’Amato) picked it up and gave it to Beckett and he made an unreal pass to me, and I put it away.”
The winner came after the Colts had a good scoring chance at the other end just before.
“We’ve all been around hockey forever. It’s always missing one and then it goes in at the other end,” said Williamson. “That’s the game. We scored six goals; we should win a hockey game. That’s what we got to look at the most of defending better, but again it’s a game of bounces and now we’re fighting it a little bit.”
The Colts had chances to end this one, including a pair of great opportunities five minutes into the first extra frame after the Generals’ Andrew Gibson flipped the puck into the stands for a delay of game penalty.
On the ensuing power play, Van Steensel and a couple of his teammates couldn’t quite get to a loose puck in a scramble in the crease to beat Oster.
“It was close,” he said. “First it went off my skate, then I got it to my stick, and I think their (defenceman) kept it out of the net. Like Marty said, it’s a game of inches out here and we were a couple of inches away a couple of times.”
Shortly after, Cole Beaudoin had a similar chance off of a scramble in front, but the Utah top prospect just couldn’t quite get his stick on it.
“Some risky moments there and some touch and go,” Oshawa interim coach Brad Malone said of the penalty kill. “I thought our killers did a great job, this guy (Torrance) included, and then (Oster). He came up huge with a couple of point-blank saves. Stood his ground.
“It’s been one of the areas all year that’s been a point of emphasis in terms of cleaning up. Barrie has a lot of talent on the other side, so to have a two-minute kill it was nerve-racking.
“I thought we stuck to the structure and when we bent, we didn’t break.”
Down 5-4 heading to the third period, the Colts needed a huge effort, and they put one forward.
Kashawn Aitcheson, who was booed every time he touched the puck, tied the game at 9:15 when he walked in and beat Oster past the short-side blocker.
Then with 6:33 remaining, Barrie caught a break when Ben Danford’s stick shattered on a clearing attempt. The puck went to Brad Gardiner who slid it up to Bode Stewart and he fed it across the crease to Riley Patterson who notched his second of the game on the easy tap-in.
The Colts, though, couldn’t hang on. Colby Barlow found Griffin in the slot in the dying seconds and the game was off to overtime.
“We got lucky,” said Malone. “We executed on a six-on-five that was a great play by the guys to draw it up and great execution by Griffin to find the soft area. . . I thought we played our best two periods in overtime.
“I thought we got back on our front foot and got more aggressive, and on the forecheck, and played as a unit of five.
That’s the positive of tonight, obviously the win, but the way we came back and found our game.”
Barrie would strike first in this one when Patterson fired a shot in close past the glove of Oster just 2:20 into the game. Barlow tied it a little more than two minutes later, before Anthony Romani would put the Colts back on top at 7:03.
The Generals, though, would get goals from Barlow and Brooks Rogowski to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.
“All playoffs we’ve shown a lot of resiliency, a lot of character, a lot of don’t quit,” said Malone. “We’ve had a lot of moments where we’ve been down early in games, and it would be very easy for some individuals to check out. I can say that as nobody (else), there’s no quit in that room. There’s a ton of belief and it goes back to our leadership, our 20-year-olds, the guys that are leading inside that room.”
Cole Beaudoin, who was a force all game, would tie it early in the second before Sennecke and Noah Powell scored 55 seconds apart late in the period to make it 5-3.
On Sennecke’s goal, he grabbed a hold of Aitcheson’s stick to gain an edge on his drive to the net. The Barrie defenceman protested but to no avail.
“It’s a tough play,” said Williamson. “If he uses his hand to gain an advantage by grabbing our guy’s stick so he couldn’t play the puck, you can say smart play by Sennecke, and he got away with it. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”
It’s do-or-die time for the Colts now. They must find a way to get the series back to Barrie for Game 5 on Saturday night or bring an end to a season that started with so much promise.
“We got guys in there that want to win,” said Van Steensel. “We got guys that want to compete and play for each other. Nobody in there is ready to go home yet, so I’m sure we’ll have our best effort Thursday.”
Williamson expects nothing less from his team on Thursday.
“A hundred per cent,” he said. “We’ll play our best game, and we’ll let the chips fall where they fall.”
Game time on Thursday is 7:05 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Game 5, if necessary, is back at Sadlon Arena on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. . . . Oshawa outshot Barrie 50-40. . . Despite the flurry of goals, both Oster and Hillebrandt made several big stops in this one. “Both goalies probably want a couple back, but both goalies made big saves at times or found ways to keep the puck out of the net,” said Williamson. “We know Hilly, he’s been a warrior for us. He played tough in the series last year and he’s a battler.” . . . The Colts took two penalties in the opening period and paid the price on Barlow’s power-play goal off a one-timer. The Gens finished 1-for-3, while the Colts were 0-for-2. “That power play has hurt us in this series, and they did early in the game,” said Williamson. “If there’s an inch out there and it misses a stick and it gets to one of those guys (Barlow or Sennecke) for their one-timers, they’re pretty lethal.” . . . Barlow (2G, 1A) and Sennecke (1G, 2A) each finished with three points. . . Romani had three points (1G, 2A) to lead Barrie. . . Before the game, the Generals announced a new 30-year deal with the city to play at the Tribute Communities Centre.
