The Barrie Colts feel like they let a good opportunity to take a stranglehold on their first-round playoff series against the Niagara IceDogs slip through their hands on Tuesday night.
Anthony Romani’s sixth goal of the series gave the visiting Colts a 4-3 lead early in the third period, but penalty trouble midway through the frame resulted in power-play goals a little more than three minutes apart by Kevin He and Alex Assadourian to lead the IceDogs to a 6-4 win at the Meridian Centre.
The come-from-behind victory cut Barrie’s lead in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven series to 2-1 heading into Game 4 Thursday night back in St. Catharines.
It was a tough loss for the Colts, who dominated play early, outshooting the IceDogs 39-33 and outchancing them heavily.
On a night they believe they could have come away with a commanding 3-0 series lead.
“Yeah, they are (tough),” Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson said of these kinds of losses. “The ‘what ifs’ and all that kind of stuff. It’s disappointing, but there were a lot of good things tonight. We did a lot of really good things, and we got to build on that.
“For the most part, I thought the guys gave me close to 60 minutes and it’s a better kind of game for us. We didn’t seem to get any breaks with the refs as far as calls going our way and that kind of stuff, but you make your own breaks. You got to fight through it sometimes.”
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In a season where they have been so good at locking down leads in the final period, penalties would be Barrie’s undoing in this one.
With Tristan Bertucci off for tripping, He spun off the side boards and moved into the faceoff circle to the right of Hrebik before he wired one past the Barrie goalie’s glove hand to tie the game at 9:05.
Then with Michael Derbidge off for slashing, Assadourian poked home a loose puck in front. His second of the night proved to be the game-winner.
He’s second of the night into an empty net with 28 seconds remaining sealed the Niagara comeback.
“Two power-play goals and that changed the third period a bit,” said Williamson. “You can’t take penalties when you have a lead like that. We gave them some opportunities and they took advantage of it. They’re an opportunistic team.”
In the series opener last Thursday, the Colts killed off a five-minute major in the third to hang on for a 4-2 win.
“Usually we’re pretty good at locking it down, but it was unfortunate today,” said winger Emil Hemming, whose one-timer in the second period gave Barrie a 3-2 lead. “We just got to keep going forward and forget this game.”
Owen Flores was the story in this one, keeping his team in the game through the first 40 minutes.
While he turned aside chance after chance, it would be Niagara that struck first thanks to a Barrie turnover at centre ice.
Carter Lowe attempted to backhand the puck across to Grayson Tiller, but Ryan Roobroeck intercepted it and walked in alone before beating Hrebik on the blocker side.
Riley Patterson’s first of the playoff series and first in 11 games tied it early in the second, before Blake Arrowsmith put Niagara back on top, 2-1.
Goals by Owen Van Steensel, on the power play, and Hemming just 2:07 apart would put the Colts on top for the first time in the contest, but the IceDogs came right back on a goal by Assadourian just 31 seconds later.
“I didn’t mind our game,” said Williamson. “We had the big gaff there with Lowe and giving them the breakaway. One of those missed communications, but Flores really kept them in otherwise we really could have put a bigger number up.
“But we kind of know he’s going to do that. Four goals should be enough to win a hockey game. We just got to play 60 minutes again on Thursday and get a little more efficient in the third period.”
If not for Flores, the Colts could have had a big lead heading into the third.
“The goalie was good today, so yeah it’s frustrating,” said Hemming.
Barrie will look to bounce back Thursday night with the opportunity to put the IceDogs on the brink of elimination heading into Game 5 back home on Saturday night.
“I don’t think we need to change anything big,” said Hemming. “It just comes down to execution and being careful with the penalties.”
The Colts will look to refocus over the next two days.
“We’re disappointed by tonight’s game, but we’ll refocus and come here (Niagara) and have a little more purpose to our game,” said Williamson.
Game time on Thursday at the Meridian Centre is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Romani’s six goals in three games leads all OHL scorers. . . Van Steensel now has three goals and five points and is a plus 7 in plus/minus. . . Veteran Barrie winger Brad Gardiner was scratched after getting hit in Game 2 on Monday in Barrie. Rookie Jack Martin took his place in the lineup. . . Hrebik’s playoff start was a career first in the OHL. . . . Niagara hosted its first playoff game since 2019. . . The start time for Game 5 back in Barrie will be 7:30 p.m. Game 6, if necessary, is back in St. Catharines on Sunday at 7 p.m.
