A sick and heavily depleted Barrie Colts lineup put up a valiant effort on Tuesday night in Kingston, but it wasn’t enough to take down a Frontenacs club that finds itself on a record roll on home ice.
Tyler Hopkins scored twice and Ethan Hay pitched in with three assists to help the Frontenacs improve their franchise win streak at home to 11 games and clinch a playoff berth with a 6-4 win over the Colts at Slush Puppie Place.
Already missing Tristan Bertucci (mono) and Jack Martin (concussion), a flu bug has ravaged the Barrie dressing room over the past few days and left the Central Division leaders short another four regulars.
Beau Jelsma, Beau Akey, Riley Patterson and Emil Hemming, were all under the weather and did not dress. Even head coach Marty Williamson is sick and was unable to make the trip.
Despite the shorthanded lineup, the Colts (33-16-2-2) got to within a goal twice after trailing by three goals, including late in the game before an empty-netter with 1:15 remaining sealed the deal for Kingston (32-14-5-3).
“It was a tough win going in, but I give the guys credit that they didn’t want to hear any excuses,” said Dylan Smoskowitz who ran the bench along with fellow assistant coach Dennis Martindale. “They had no time for that and just kind of bonded together and put forward a good performance. It was two days off with no ice due to the snow in Barrie.
“To have a same-day game with a three-and-a-half-hour bus ride up to Kingston short-staffed and missing the head coach and even with some guys playing today still under the weather, I think everyone can sit back and be proud of the performance. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the two points, but it’s something positive to build off for the three-in-three this weekend.”
Bode Stewart hasn’t seen a bout of illness hit a dressing room like this in all of his days playing hockey.
“I’ve never seen it before,” said forward Bode Stewart, whose second-period goal brought the Colts to within 3-2 near the midway mark of the second period after trailing 3-0. “It’s a little surprising and (we had) a little jump in some of the guys today with all the changes and the short staff on our part. It definitely threw us off guard a little bit.”
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A rough start put the Colts in a hole early, thanks in large part to four penalties. A pair by Hopkins and a power-play marker by Emil Pieniniemi gave the Frontenacs a 3-0 lead at the end of one period.
Barrie rallied in the second to get within a goal, but late goals in each of the periods proved costly.
“Those hurt for sure, but when you put yourself in a hole in the first with four penalties and three goals in the first period, it’s so difficult to stick with the game plan,” said Smoskowitz. “You look at the scoreboard and you kind of want to cheat for offence just a little bit, but again I’m very proud of the guys for how they responded that second period.”
After Hopkins opened the scoring 4:59 into the game, the Colts did appear to tie it when Kashawn Aitcheson hit Cole Beaudoin with a pass at the blueline and he slipped it through the legs of a Kingston defenceman before walking in and beating Charlie Schenkel.
The play was reviewed and disallowed after it was ruled to be offside. Officials told Smoskowitz that the call to disallow the goal came from the video room.
“It was tough to see a goal like that (not count),” said Stewart. “It was a nice play by Aitcheson and Beaudoin. It sucks to see a goal like that called back, but that’s on us for not taking that momentum and scoring another one.”
Brad Gardiner, on a redirection in front from Beaudoin, got the Colts rolling at 5:02 into the second before Stewart redirected one home in the crease a little more than two minutes later.
“We regrouped in the dressing room and took it upon ourselves to be better,” said Stewart of Barrie’s play in the second. “We came out with a little more energy, a little more purpose and hot and kind of got the result we wanted in that period.”
Barrie would find themselves back in a deep hole again when Landon Wright scored with just under three minutes in the second and then Tuomas Uronen wired one past Ben Hrebik just 1:05 into the third period to make it 5-2.
“There was no cheating,” said Smoskowitz. “We played the right way, and we got a little bit away from our game late in the second period and that one hurt going into the room being down two (compared to) being down one.”
The Colts continued to battle and gave themselves another chance at a late comeback when goals by Anthony Romani and Aitcheson got them to within one with 1:32 remaining.
“The guys still rallied (in the third) late even though we went down three against which just goes to show the character and leadership we have in our room here,” said Smoskowtiz. “Something to work on for sure, some teaching points tonight for sure, but overall something to be proud of.”
A Cal Uens empty-netter would send the Colts to their third-straight defeat.
“We were battling all game,” said Stewart. “We were battling for every inch. It was a little back and forth. I was trying to get a goal and then not another one in. It was back and forth and us battling all the time.”
Sam Black, Cole Dubowsky, Noah Barton, and Ethan Armstrong were all inserted into the Barrie lineup with all the missing regulars.
“We got guys that can step up and play roles that need to be filled,” said Stewart. “We just hope guys get better. Everyone just needs to take care of themselves and try to stay as healthy as possible for the busy days ahead.”
Smoskowitz said he has no idea who Barrie will have back in the lineup when they return home Thursday evening to kick off a three-in-three weekend against the Owen Sound Attack.
“We’re just trying to pump them with meds, get those who need it to doctors, and then get these guys healed up as fast as possible,” he said.
Barrie remains three points behind both the Brantford Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference.
“We told the guys before we came today and we’ll tell them again Thursday that if we’re short bodies it’s not an excuse and no one is going to feel bad for us,” said Smoskowitz. “We’ll go out there and make sure we put our best foot forward in terms of getting the job done.”
Game time Thursday at Sadlon Arena is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: The game was a makeup for Monday afternoon's contest which was postponed due to weather. . . Barrie travels to Kitchener on Friday night, before returning home Saturday night to host the Peterborough Petes. . . Even Williamson was home sick. “It takes a lot to bring down Marty Williamson, so whatever is going around must be pretty strong,” said Smoskowitz. . . Romani and Wakely each had two assists. . . Barrie was outshot 36-17. . . The Colts were 1-for-1 with the man advantage, while the Frontenancs finished 1-for-5.
