It was far from the previous night’s dominant performance in a 4-1 win in Ottawa, but the Barrie Colts — with a lot of help from goaltender Ben Hrebik — found a way to get the job done with a less-than-stellar showing late Saturday afternoon in Kingston.
Hrebik turned aside 39 of 40 shots in another impressive effort, and Bode Stewart recorded his first game-winning goal of the season midway through the third period to break a tie and lead the Colts to a 2-1 victory over the Frontenacs at Slush Puppie Place.
While the win Friday night in the nation’s capital was arguably its most complete this season, Barrie (16-8-1-4) required another huge effort from its star puck stopper to hold off a struggling Kingston club (10-16-2-2) that has now lost nine straight.
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
In a game where the Frontenacs held a huge edge in shots (40-25), scoring chances, and deserved a better fate, the Colts found a way to pull out the win.
“Some nights it’s almost like they know what the bare minimum is to win, and they do just that,” Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz said of his club, which has now won three straight and seven of its last eight games. “Any less and Kingston ties that game. If I’m [Frontenacs head coach Troy Mann], I’m pretty happy with the way they played and pretty happy with the offensive chances they generated.
“As Barrie’s coach, I’m not too happy with how (many chances) we gave up. It’s a great performance by Ben Hrebik.”
The win moved Barrie six points up on the North Bay Battalion atop the Central Division standings.
“We work hard,” said Stewart. “We play as a unit. We stick to our details. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but we focus on the defence, and we don’t let them score. That’s kind of our big focus point, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Hrebik made big save after big save, especially in a third period dominated by the Frontenacs, who outshot the Colts 16-4.
Smoskowitz said team stats showed his club had already given up 10 scoring chances heading into the final frame.
“Ten is a number we don’t want to give up throughout the entire game,” said the first-year head coach. “Probably less than that, so there were a lot of high-end chances against Ben tonight, but he just gives you this feeling that no matter what happens in front of him, it’s going to take an exceptional shot or lucky bounce to beat him.
“Their one goal was that great shot. . . But other than that, this guy was locked in. He’s on another level. Our guys are really fortunate to have this kind of goaltending with both him and (Arvin) Jaswal.”
Up 1-0 on a late first-period goal by Emil Hemming, the Colts and Hrebik held fort until the Frontenacs finally broke through at 7:27 of the third on a perfect shot from the low faceoff circle by Nolan Buttar into the top far corner.
Stewart put the Colts back on top a little more than four minutes later when he stole a puck inside the Kingston end and walked into the slot before snapping a rising shot that Kingston goaltender Matthew Minchak got his blocker on.
However, the puck, bounced high into the air, off the back of Minchak and into the net.
“I just tried to get it off quick,” said Stewart of his third goal of the season. “It took a nice bounce, and [Nicholas Desiderio] kind of crashed him out, so I got a bit of help, and I’m happy it went in.”
Highlight-reel saves by Hrebik were aplenty in this one. He stoned Tomas Pobezal on a one-timer in the slot midway through the second.
In the third, Nolan Snyder slid it to Buttar on the back door, but Hrebik got out the right pad to keep it out. Minutes later, the Barrie netminder robbed Buttar again when he slid across the crease and kicked out his left pad on a backhand off a rebound in front.
In the third, Maleek McGowan crept in front and tried to slide it in front to Andrew Kuzma, who was all set up for the easy tap-in. Hrebik, though, kicked out his left pad at the last second, and the puck never got to Kuzma.
Hrebik also had some big-time defensive efforts from his teammates. Evan Passmore came up with a huge shot block, and Cole Beaudoin raced back to prevent what appeared to be a sure Frontenac goal on a rebound in front.
“The compete on these guys is really something special,” said Smoskowitz. “We talk about it a lot, and we see it a lot in practice. It’s almost like in practice these guys are working on defending leads with minutes left in a game, so when they make these plays in games, it’s because they’re used to it.
“It’s always go, go, go, and desperation plays like Beaudoin, or a big block by Passmore, or a sliding pad save by Hrebik. These guys do that from Monday to Friday and then come and get ready to ramp it up on the weekend. A lot of credit goes to them and how dedicated they are, and how hard they work throughout the week.”
After an emotional win against a 67’s team that sits near the top of the OHL standings, keeping that energy against a struggling Frontenacs team proved more difficult for the Colts.
In a phone call with Marty Williamson after the win in Ottawa, Smoskowitz said the Colts’ general manager told him to be careful of an “energy dump” in Kingston.
“I think we could see that a bit,” said Smoskowitz. “(Friday) night’s game was a talked-about game for our group and something we really focused on throughout the week. It’s almost like we forgot we had two games this week.
“It’s something we have to get better at as coaches, preparing them for two games. The guys have to get better at flushing the game, whether you win or lose, or whether you have a good one or a bad one. You have to regroup and get ready for the next one.”
Still, Smoskowitz said he found plenty of good things to like from his team in Saturday’s win.
They got pucks to the net and kept it simple. He liked Stewart’s shot on the game-winner and thought the penalty kill did a “really good job” on holding the Frontenacs scoreless on three chances with the man advantage.
“As much as we’re going to nitpick and find the negatives, there are a lot of good things to like,” said Smoskowitz. “It’s not an easy league to win in, and the 20 guys that suit up for us on a nightly basis find ways to get it done.”
ICE CHIPS
Barrie is now 13-1-1-1 over its last 16 games. “I think guys are a little more comfortable with each other,” said Stewart. “Comfortable with our systems and all that. Everyone is buying in, and everyone’s doing their part.”
Colts overage forward Alex Assadourian did not dress Saturday after a heavy fall in Ottawa. “I think if it were a playoff game, he’d be in there,” said Smoskowitz. It’s a lot of hockey ahead of us, and there’s going to be some big minutes up for grabs over the next few weeks, and I want to make sure everyone is feeling good.”
ADD. OHL
Brampton 4 Saginaw 1
Brantford 7 North Bay 2
Erie 5 Oshawa 1
Ottawa 8 Peterborough 5
London 3 Windsor 2 (OT)
