Hayden Reid and the Niagara IceDogs have snatched home ice advantage away from the Barrie Colts.
Reid buried a loose puck in the slot at 13:19 of overtime to give the IceDogs a 4-3 win over the Colts, Saturday night, at Sadlon Arena and help the underdogs even their Eastern Conference best-of-seven-first-round playoff series at 1-1.
The matchup between second-seeded Barrie and seventh-seeded Niagara now heads to St. Catharines for the next two games, beginning with Game 3 Tuesday night at the Meridian Centre.
Puck drop is shortly after 7 p.m.
“The big thing is nothing is really going to change in terms of our game plan or our mindset,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz of losing home ice. “We’re going in there knowing Game 3 was going to be a big game either way. Whether we had a 2-0 lead, and not looking back on the series, or now that it’s 1-1 to go up 2-1, and get that lead back.
“It’s still a big game. We’ll have a nice day off (Sunday) and get back on the ice on Monday and get ready to rock n’ roll on Tuesday night.”
Down 3-2 with 5:05 remaining, Brad Gardiner brought a sellout crowd of 4,225 to life when he jumped on a loose puck in front and slid it past Niagara goalie Vladislav Yermolenko to send this one to overtime.
The Colts came close to ending it a couple of times in the extra frame, but the IceDogs would capitalize on their best chance off a faceoff in the attacking end.
Former Colt Riley Patterson, who had a goal and two assists on the night, won the draw cleanly back to Blake Barnes. Arvin Jaswal kicked his right pad out to stop Barnes’ low shot from the point, but Reid fought off defenceman Cole Emerton in front, spun toward the net, and fired home the rebound for the winner.
“That’s just the way overtime in the playoffs goes,” said Barrie forward Mason Zebeski. “It swings both ways, but at the end of the day, it takes one mistake or simple breakdown to end the game.”
Smoskowitz didn’t mind his team’s play in the overtime period, but it was the IceDogs who capitalized on their one big opportunity.
“I thought we had some pretty good legs, pretty good looks,” he said. “It was a good learning experience, our first overtime in the playoffs. A big crowd, and lots of jitters, lots of nerves, and stuff like that, but it’s kind of like who is going to blink first.
“Who’s going to make a mistake? Or who is going to capitalize at last? They capitalized on a good faceoff win.”
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Playing in front of a lively home crowd, the Colts had a ton of energy early and were rewarded just 3:05 into the game when Cole Beaudoin buried a rebound in front.
Ethan Czata would tie it early in the second on the power play, but his night would come to an end late in the second when he took a slew-footing major.
Calvin Crombie would capitalize on the ensuing man advantage, but the Colts would stumble.
Ryerson Edgar, on the power play, drew the IceDogs even just 1:30 in the third, and then six minutes later, Patterson would give the visitors their first lead of the game when he walked into the slot and fired one over the right pad of Jaswal.
“We came out pretty hot and almost overwhelmed them a little bit,” said Zebeski of Barrie’s fast start. “It’s on us older guys to keep that pace and energy up throughout the whole game. I think that’s the key for us, is to play a full 60 (minutes) with 100 per cent intensity and energy throughout the whole game.”
Smoskowitz said the important thing now is for his team to put the disappointing loss behind them.
“I think Mason Zebeski said it best, ‘You’ve got to have the mind of a goldfish in the playoffs.’ As soon as something’s over, it’s long gone, out of your memory. We want to take bits and pieces and learn from this. Learn for your competition, and learn from yourself, but in terms of dwelling on it, or being sad, or feeling sorry for yourself, that’s not in this group’s DNA.
“We’re going to move on, have a good day (Sunday), and a better day on Monday, and a really good day on Tuesday.”
The Colts will get a big boost Tuesday night when co-captain Kashawn Aitcheson returns from his two-game suspension for exceeding the league’s fighting threshold in the team’s final regular-season game last Saturday.
The OHL’s defensive scoring leader in both goals and points this season will be a welcome addition for a Barrie team that has appeared flat at times in its opening two games of the series and looked nothing like the team that went on a huge run after Christmas.
“It’s nice to have Kash back,” Smoskowitz said of the OHL’s defensive scoring leader in both goals and points. “He’s going to be obviously well rested, and I know just from seeing him on the ice this morning getting a workout in, he’s very, very antsy to get back in the lineup.
“More importantly, he was just antsy to get back with his brothers. If there’s one person who misses being around the team more than anyone else, it’s Kashawn Aitcheson. To get him back is a big boost to the group as a whole, but just for himself as an individual, he’s going to be very excited.”
CHANGES TO LINEUP
The Colts made three lineup changes Saturday from the roster that took to the ice in Thursday’s 4-1 win, but none bigger than in the crease, where Jaswal replaced Game 1 starter Ben Hrebik.
The young goalie played well, stopping 31 of 35 shots.
“That’s a group decision,” said Smoskowitz of will get the start on Tuesday. “I’m going to talk to Dave Belitski, our goalie coach, and, obviously, (general manager) Marty Williamson is involved in that decision itself as well, with the coaching staff.
“We’ll chat about it as a group, go over the film, and see what works out best for us in the long term.”
Other lineup changes saw Barrie dress Nicholas Desiderio and Jonah McCormick, while Eamon Edgar and Luc Gauvreau were scratches.
ICE CHIPS: Reid has been a thorn in the side of the Colts. Not only did he score the Game 2 overtime winner, but it was his battle with Aitcheson in the final regular season game that resulted in the New York Islanders’ prospect getting suspended. . . Barrie outshot Niagara 45-34, while both teams finished 2-for-4 on the power play. . . Niagara dominated the faceoff circle, 36-27. . . Gardiner’s four points (1-3) in his first two games have already matched his point total from last year’s 12-game run.
