Colts drop opener 5-2 to Rangers, lose Salandra to injury

The Barrie Colts lost more than the opening game of the OHL Finals on Wednesday night in Kitchener.

The Colts were dealt another devastating injury when forward Joe Salandra had to be carried off the ice on a stretcher after a late second-period collision in their 5-2 loss to the Rangers at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

Already missing injured captain and top scorer Cole Beaudoin, the Colts will now likely be without Salandra for some time after the rookie suffered what appeared to be a serious ankle injury.

Salandra and Cameron Reid collided just inside the Barrie blueline, with the Kitchener captain landing on Salandra’s right foot as both players fell to the ice.

“He’s at the hospital now, and he said it hurt pretty bad,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz, who didn’t know the extent of the injury at the time. “Looking at his face, he was in a lot of pain. When the stretcher is called out and (Head Athletic Therapist Christine Zentai) assesses the situation and determines it’s not safe for the player to leave under his own power, you’ve got to assume it’s a pretty devastating injury.

“We’ll take a drive over to the hospital and see how he’s doing.”

While Salandra was being attended to, the whole Barrie bench took to the ice and gathered around him, before dropping to a knee. All then went over to offer their support for their injured teammate as he was carried off.

“He battles and does everything a coach could ask for, so to lose a warrior like that, it’s not easy,” added Smoskowitz. “It’s not easy for his brothers to see him like that. It’s not easy for Joe to go through something like that when he’s worked so hard to get to this point of the season.

“We can only hope that Joe has a speedy recovery.”

The collision, said Smoskowitz, seemed innocent.

“I loved that Cam Reid came over to make sure he was OK,” said the Colts’ bench boss. “Cam’s such a good leader, he’s a great kid. To come over and give a tap like that, I’m sure it meant a lot to him. Hockey is a physical game by nature. I have zero doubt that there was any ill intent on that play.”

Tied 2-2 at the time, the Rangers would bust open a tight game early in the third when Andrew MacNeil, with his second of the game, and Cameron Arquette scored 3:31 apart to help the home team take command.

Sam O’Reilly, recently named the Red Tilson Trophy winner as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player, scored into an empty net with 1:19 remaining to ice the win and give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.

Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m., back in Kitchener.

“We’ve been here before,” said Smoskowitz, whose club also dropped the series opener on the road to the Brantford Bulldogs in the Eastern Conference Final. “We had a good chat after the game, letting the guys know that there’s no panic with this group. It’s all about winning Thursday now.

“We have to have a better day than (Kitchener) tomorrow. We have to have a better practice. We have to dive into the video. If you win Thursday, you have a good chance to win on Friday.”

After missing more than two months of action with an injury and returning on April 17, MacNeil scored his first two playoff goals, including the winner, when his point shot hit someone in front and found its way past Colts’ goalie Ben Hrebik.

“It’s pretty cool,” the Montreal Canadiens’ prospect said of his big night. “I give a lot of credit to my teammates for helping me get through kind of a tough time.”

The Colts, on both third-period goals, couldn’t get the puck out of their end, and it ended up being the difference in the game.

“Credit to them. Their offensive-zone pressure was good tonight,” said Smoskowitz. “I know our group — I’ve seen it before — can play more poised under pressure. I thought there was a little panic and scramble in our defensive zone, which could be fatigue, could be not understanding the opponent, or their tendencies.

“It will be fixed for Friday and the rest of the series.”

Trailing 1-0, Ben Wilmott, with his first of two goals on the night, drew the Colts even just 3:21 into the second period when he took a feed from Mason Zebeski and his one-timer beat Rangers’ goalie Christian Kirsch.

Dylan Edwards would put Kitchener back on top a little more than eight minutes later when he pounced on a rebound off a Jack Pridham shot in the slot and whipped it past Hrebik.

Wilmott tied it again some four minutes later on another one-timer in front, with Kashawn Aitcheson teeing him up this time.

“Two huge goals,” said Smoskowitz of the NHL draft prospect. “His game was just fast and strong, and dominant with the puck, and away from the puck. He was a force all night.”

Smoskowitz was happy with his team’s opening 40 minutes, especially a forecheck that led to some big Kitchener turnovers. Still, he feels they could have applied more pressure, and, as the third period proved, they need a full 60-minute effort.

“At this point in the season, you’re in the finals for the championship,” he said. “There’s no room for mistakes or mishaps, and we had a couple too many of those tonight. We’re going to clean it up, and learn from it, but the most important thing is to build off the positives.”

Smoskowitz said the Colts will be better prepared for Game 2 on Friday night.

“There won’t be much sleep for my staff and I tonight, just to make sure that when my players get there tomorrow, they have as much information as possible to give them the best chance to have success on Friday night,” said Smoskowitz, whose club only had a day to prepare for the Rangers after eliminating Brantford.

EDGAR A ‘LUXURY’ FOR SMOSKOWITZ

The Colts moved Eamon Edgar into Salandra’s right-wing spot on the second line with Brad Gardiner and Calvin Crombie to start the third period, and the rookie didn’t look one bit out of place.

 Smoskowitz has shown no hesitation to move Barrie’s second-round pick in 2025 up the lineup when needed.

“He’s been a bright spot for us all season,” he said. “I can’t say enough good things about the kid. For him to step in there, not be shy, not be hesitant, not be timid, and go to work like that, it’s a real luxury for a coach to have when you lose a guy due to injury.”

COACH APOLOGIZES AGAIN

Smoskowitz opened the post-game press conference with a formal apology to OHL Director of Communications Josh Sweetland and Manager of Social Media & Digital Content Collin Jennings after the head coach and Aitcheson gave the same answers to questions in the presser following the Game 7 win over Brantford on Monday night.

Smoskowitz praised their hard work and professionalism.

“There’s a reason this is the best development league in the world, and that’s because of people like you,” said Smoskowitz. “You did not deserve the disrespect that I gave you. I promise that will never happen again.”

HEAVY TRAFFIC IN FRONT OF BIG BEN

Hrebik came into Game 1 as hot as any goalie could be after stopping all 40 shots in Barrie’s 5-0 clinching win Monday over Brantford.

The veteran was the biggest reason the Colts rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Bulldogs, giving up just six goals on 134 shots over the three wins.

 The Rangers spent much of Wednesday night parked in front of Hrebik in an effort to make the goalie fight to see the puck.

“Any goalie, you get good screens, follow your rebounds, you get goals,” said Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas. “The guys did a good job of getting there.”

 ICE CHIPS: The final 51.9 seconds of the second following the Salandra injury were played after the intermission and ahead of the third period. . . Beaudoin wasn’t on the Barrie bench last night. . . Kitchener outshot Barrie 32-27. . . Zebeski had two assists. . . Last night’s attendance was 7,124