The Oshawa Generals stuck with what was working Friday night and it helped them wrestle away home-ice advantage from the Barrie Colts in their Eastern Conference championship series.
Owen Griffin and Matthew Buckley scored a little more than three minutes apart late in the second period to break open a scoreless contest and goaltender Jacob Oster turned aside 27 of 28 shots to lead the Generals to a 3-1 win over the Colts in the opening game of their best-of-seven series at Sadlon Arena.
Game 2 is Sunday night back in Barrie at 6 p.m.
“It’s very important obviously, but at the same time I’m just happy with the way we played,” Oshawa interim head coach Brad Malone said of grabbing home ice. “We showed a lot of confidence. We played fairly well in terms of structure, and there’s obviously room for improvements.
“They’re going to make adjustments, but to be able to play a pretty strong game in Game 1 against a very good opponent on the road is something I’m very happy about.”
Anthony Romani would cut the lead to 2-1 at 10:12 of the third period when his high-rising shot from the right side found its way through the glove of Oster, but Calum Ritchie would fire one down the ice into an empty net with 1:08 remaining to seal the win.
“We didn’t quit and that’s what I love about the team,” Colts’ captain Beau Jelsma said of the team’s third-period push to tie the game. “We’re a big family in there. We had some good and bad moments tonight, but the work ethic will always be there and that’s just something we got to continue forward.”
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Griffin has been filling the net in these playoffs, leading the Generals with 12 goals, though it would take a little time to confirm he scored.
Just after Tristan Bertucci had missed a glorious opportunity for Barrie at the other end, Beckett Sennecke slid a pass across the ice to Griffin who cut into the middle and wired a drive that beat Barrie netminder Sam Hillebrandt and rung off the back bar of the net.
Play would continue, but a little more than a minute later the buzzer went, and after a lengthy video review it was ruled a goal.
“I thought it was in on the ice, but guys were telling me it wasn’t,” said the top NHL draft prospect.
After a slow start to the game, Williamson thought things were just beginning to go well.
“We just missed that great chance in front of the net and then they came down and I didn’t know it had gone in,” he said of Griffin’s shot. “As soon as the buzzer went, we pretty well knew it was a goal at that point, so there wasn’t as much as a review.”
Video review would be needed again shortly with Oshawa on a power play after Noah Powell fired a puck off the skate of Buckley that slid under the pads of Hillebrandt as he knocked the right post off.
A lengthy review would check to see if the net had come off before the puck went in and if Buckley had kicked the puck in.
“We played hard,” said Williamson. “I didn’t like the first period so much. I thought (in the second) we found our legs and started going, it was just that four-minute transition there where we missed a real good opportunity, and they came down and got one.
“We took a penalty, and they got another and that was kind of the ball game a little bit.”
Oshawa outshot Barrie 14-9 in the opening period and had the better offensive chances but weren’t rewarded on the scoreboard.
“The message was just to continue doing what we’re doing and don’t get frustrated,” said Malone of his talk in the dressing room in the first intermission. “They defend well, and they got a great goaltender over there, so we got to stay patient and continue to do what we were doing there.”
The Generals would outshoot Barrie 28-17 over the first two frames and were finally rewarded.
“I was very happy with our effort,” said Malone. “I thought our first 40 minutes we were in control of our effort and taking care of pucks. I thought their push in the third put us on our heels a little bit. It was a testy last 10 minutes, but obviously we got the result we were looking for.”
The break on Romani’s goal gave Barrie life midway through the final period and they had good pressure on a late power play, but Oster and the Generals would hang on.
“We just talked about the things we wanted to do,” said Williamson of what he told his team in the second intermission. “Keep our feet moving, putting puck pressure on. The puck was bouncing a lot tonight, so when you put the pressure on both teams were making mistakes.
“At that point, we were behind and needed something to happen, so I thought our guys pushed hard. This team has fought all the way. We fought through seven games to get here and it’s a little bit of a blip, but we’ll be back on Sunday.”
Jelsma said he and his teammates have to just keep moving forward.
“They came out really hot and I thought as the game went on, we got better and better,” he said. “We had some good looks tonight and so did they, but Hillebrandt played great for us. We just got to keep going with it.”
Williamson said the Colts will spend some time on their off day reviewing video of the game, getting some food in them, and resting up for Sunday.
“It’s not different than it is in Game 1,” said Williamson of the message to his team. “We knew it was going to be a tough series and just the consistency of our game is what’s important.”
There’s plenty of hockey ahead, said Jelma.
“It’s a seven-game series for a reason,” he noted. “It’s just one game. We have a good day (Saturday). We’re going to practice and look at some things and come together as a team.
“Yeah, we’re back at home on Sunday and we’ll be ready to rock.”
ICE CHIPS: After Sunday, the series moves to Oshawa on Tuesday night for Game 3 and Game 4 on Thursday. Game time for both games is 7:05 p.m. . . . Oshawa finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while Barrie was 0-for-3. . . The Generals dominated faceoffs, 37-27. . . Down heading into the third and looking to generate some offence, Williamson moved Jelsma to the left wing with Cole Beaudoin and Emil Hemming. . . Romani’s goal was his 10th of the playoffs and gave him points in all 13 playoff games. . . Malone is hoping for more of the same on Sunday from his team. “We’re going to stay with the same work, the same consistency,” he said. “I thought all 20 guys were going for me tonight. I like to clean up our puck management at the blueline, I thought we gave up too much transition the other. They got a lot of forwards that can make small errors count the other way, so we’ll go back have a good day and come back for Sunday.”
