Growing pains continue as Colts drop 2-1 battle to Soo

Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. — OHL Saturday night:
First Period
     1. Sault Ste. Marie, Martin 6 (Smith) 6:05
     2. Sault Ste. Marie, McKenzie 4 (Laus, Winkelhofer) 14:38 (pp)
     Penalties — Passmore Bar (roughing), Turner SSM (roughing) 7:13, Handsor Bar (tripping) 13:14.
Second Period
     3. Barrie, Figliomeni 2 (Testa) 1:13
     Penalties — Figliomeni Bar (interference) 1:43, Hayes SSM (tripping) 16:01.
Third Period
     No scoring.
     Penalties — Turner SSM (delay of game) 1:44, McCormick Bar (unsportsmanlike conduct) 3:57, Brown SSM (slashing) 18:23.

Shots on goal by
Barrie 8 9 15—32
Sault Ste. Marie 11 11 11—33
     Goal (shots-saves) — Barrie: Nikonovich (L,2-5-2-0); Sault Ste. Marie: Camputano (W,2-0-1-0).
     Power plays (goals-chances) — Barrie: 0-3; [Home city]: 1-3.
     Referees — Darcy Burchell, Colton Peak. Linesmen — Marcus Policicchio, Michael Quesnele.
     Attendance — 3,458 (4,928)

ADD. OHL
Guelph 10 North Bay 6
Brampton 5 Flint 4
Kitchener 3 Owen Sound 2 (OT)
Saginaw 5 Erie 0

The Barrie Colts are hanging tough with some of the OHL’s top teams, but the rebuilding club is still searching for a way to turn these competitive efforts into wins.

The latest effort to fall short came Saturday at GFL Memorial Gardens, where the young club worked hard to overcome a slow start, but couldn’t buy the equalizer in a 2-1 loss to the West Division-leading Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (12-6-2-0).

“That’s where, for us as a coaching staff, we’re disappointed with the result, but there’s a lot to hang your hat on," Colts assistant coach Patrick Sexton said. "They’re (Soo) very well coached, very well structured, and a team that works extremely hard."

“So, for us to go toe-to-toe with them for two or three periods where everyone felt we took it to them, so to speak, we’re very, very proud of our guys.”

Over a recent stretch, Barrie (3-12-3-0) blanked the Saginaw Spirit 2-0, pushed the Flint Firebirds to overtime in a 4-3 loss, battled the Sudbury Wolves to a 1-1 draw through the opening two periods before falling 3-1, and then suffered Saturday night’s narrow one-goal defeat to the Greyhounds.

Unfortunately for the young club, all they have to show for it is a pair of wins over their last 10 games. Yet, despite the frustration, the message from coaches and veteran leaders remains about staying the course.

“I think we’re hanging in there with every team right now,” said overage Colts winger Carter Lowe. “It’s just... honestly, I don’t know. I’m trying to harp to the young guys that it will come. We’re doing the right things.”

Down 2-1, the Colts pressed hard in the third period, outshooting the Greyhounds 15-11 and nearly tying it late. With just 50 seconds remaining on a power play — and goaltender Matvei Nikonovich pulled to give them a two-man advantage — Justin Handsor wired a drive squarely off the far post.

Then, with just 20 seconds remaining, he fired another low shot that narrowly missed the far post.

“It’s a cruel sport, obviously, because goals are a lot harder to come by this year than in years prior,” said Lowe. “We just got to have self-confidence and believe that what we’re doing is the right thing, and just keep trying to push, and the bounces will come eventually.”

Sexton shook his head when asked about Handsor’s near-equalizer.

“It’s a game of inches, but we as a team have gone through different experiences,” he said. “Like in Saginaw, where we’re up, and we hold on for our dear life. I really liked the attitude and the mentality of our guys to attack in that third period.

“Obviously, we had a good penalty kill, some good saves, some blocked shots, all those things, but we played on our toes, and we worked to try to create the chances that we got. Our guys had a tremendous drive executing the game plan, so there are lots of positives. Disappointed about the result, of course, but lots of positives from our guys tonight.”

A rough start for Barrie proved fatal. A turnover off a bad bounce off the back boards led to Jeremy Martin giving the host Hounds an early lead 6:05 into the contest. Quinn McKenzie then doubled the lead with the Soo on the power play, rifling a shot past Barrie goalie Matvei Nikonovich at 14:38.

It ended up being all the offence the Greyhounds needed.

“Frustrated that we started slowly again out of the gates. It was our conversation with the guys after the game,” said Sexton. “We’re right there. We’re knocking on that door, but we have to start on time. So, disappointed, but I thought we responded really well after that. It shows the character of the kids in the room.”

Barrie played a man short up front with regular forwards Dylan Tsherna, Maxim Shirochenkov, and Ben Lombardi all sidelined with undisclosed injuries.

“We came here shorthanded on bodies, lost a guy early on, and I thought we did a tremendous job of coming together as a group and trying to battle through that,” added Sexton. “Again, I thought we really pushed the envelope and took it to them in that second half, especially the second and the third period.”

The Colts came alive in the final five minutes of the first period and carried that momentum into the second, getting rewarded just 1:31 in. Anthony Figliomeni raced in over the blue line, on what was developing into a three-on-one, and wired a laser over the shoulder of Soo goalie William Camputaro to cut the lead in half.

“It was a heck of a shot. He attacked with pace,” said Sexton. “They got the chance right before it, but he’s coming along as a player, and he does have a heck of a shot. I’m trying to get him to use it more and hit the net.”

While falling behind early may have rattled some young clubs, the Colts have learned to get right back up. There is a clear refusal to roll over.

“I think that goes back to the work ethic that (head coach) Dylan Smoskowitz and the assistant coaches put on us and just that resiliency,” said Lowe. “Just never giving up. There’s no hole too deep, necessarily. Right now, it’s just not going our way.”

Sexton loved how his team pushed back.

“You can even go back to the start of the second,” he said. “That first shift right away, we get it in deep, and we’re playing on our toes. We’re trying to play it downhill. So, very proud of our guys for that. Again, we’re working to try and get better every single game. Every single day, every single practice.

“So, this is another step in the right direction to be right there. If we keep playing like this, more often than not, we’re going to find ourselves on the right end offensively.”

UP NEXT

The Colts wrap up their northern swing with a Sunday afternoon rematch against the Wolves.

“Tomorrow definitely would be a statement game,” said Lowe. “They came into our building, and they got our points. So, we got to repay the favour this week. I don’t think any team should be taking us lightly, and I feel like we’re right there.”

Meanwhile, the Greyhounds are in Sudbury on Tuesday for a school day game.

OLEK RETURNS TO LINEUP

The rookie centre, who hadn’t played since an Oct. 22 game against Owen Sound, was back in the lineup, but suffered some early misfortune when his attempt to play the puck behind the net took a bad bounce off the back boards, leading to the opening goal.

“It’s early in the game. He’s trying to get his feet wet,” said Sexton. “As a coach, it’s hard to get mad when you make a physical mistake trying to make the right play. The mental mistakes are the ones that bug us, because they’re the things that we’ve talked about.

“Stuff like that, when you’re trying to make the right play, and it just doesn’t go your way, it’s tough to get mad at them. I thought he did a good job trying to respond after that.”

MATHESON, CANADA RED WIN BRONZE AT U17 CHALLENGE

Barrie Colts rookie blueliner Lucas Matheson and Canada Red defeated Canada White 8-4 on Saturday at the U17 World Challenge in Oakville to capture the bronze medal.

Matheson, who picked up two assists in the victory, earned bragging rights over Barrie teammate Declan McNally and head coach Dylan Smoskowitz, who was guiding Canada White at the tournament.