Trips to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium have been forgettable for the Barrie Colts over the last five seasons.
That finally changed on Friday night.
Carter Lowe scored the game-winner in the shootout, and Arvin Jaswal stood tall in goal, making 32 saves and then turning aside five of six shooters in the shootout to help the Colts snap a five-game losing streak at the Aud with a 3-2 win over the host Rangers.
It was the first time Barrie won in Kitchener since Tyson Foerster and Evan Vierling each had four points in a 6-4 win over the Rangers on March 6, 2020.
“Even [general manager Marty Williamson] was saying to me before we left (today), ‘Ahh, Kitchener hasn’t been kind to me as a head coach, so maybe the tide will turn with you,’” said first-year head coach Dylan Smoskowitz, who was all smiles after the big win.
“I really thought the guys gave us a full effort again. I was really happy on Wednesday with the 60 minutes, and I was really happy tonight with the 60 minutes. I don’t think we let up at all.”
Barrie's News Delivered To Your Inbox
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Central Ontario Broadcasting, 431 Huronia Rd, Barrie, Ontario, CA, https://www.cobroadcasting.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
It was Barrie’s (22-10-1-4) third straight victory and combined with North Bay’s 6-2 loss in Sudbury on Friday, moved the Colts 11 points ahead of the Niagara IceDogs and the Battalion atop the Central Division standings.
They weren’t just losses in the previous stops in Kitchener. Barrie took it on the chin, being outscored 18-4 during the five-game skid there.
“They got really loud fans, and we just tried to play our game tonight and stick to our systems, and it ended up working out,” said forward Joseph Salandra, who also scored for the Colts in the shootout.
Barrie, on goals by Lowe and Brad Gardiner, on the power play, held a 2-1 lead midway through the second period until the final minute of the contest before Kitchener’s Christian Humphreys, with goaltender Jason Schaubel pulled for the extra attacker, fired a low shot from the point past Jaswal to tie the game with 43.5 seconds remaining and send it into overtime.
“It took a crazy bounce on a six-on-five off a shinpad to beat Jazz tonight. He was fantastic,” Smoskowitz said of his young goaltender. “And for the guys to stick with it, and Lowe getting rewarded in the shootout like that, I thought it was a great team win.”
Kitchener’s Dylan Edwards and Salandra each scored in the shootout, before Lowe, with a chance to win it on the sixth attempt, skated in on the right side and cut into the middle before firing one over the right shoulder of Schaubel to seal the victory.
“Usually for Lowe, he’s the guy on the bench getting the heads of the other players when they go down to shoot against us, so when he got the opportunity, he had to score,” said Smoskowitz with a huge grin. “Because, if he didn’t score, he was going to get it pretty bad.
“That was what he was concerned about when we spoke to him after the game. ‘Guys, if I missed that, I was going to get chirped endlessly,’ so he knew he had to score.”
Barrie appeared as though it would hang on after killing a pair of early Kitchener (23-11-3-1) power plays in the third, but Humphreys shot through heavy traffic in front requested more work from the visitors.
The Rangers had a few good scoring opportunities in overtime to win it, yet despite their recent history, the Colts fought through adversity to finally leave Kitchener with two points.
“That’s what’s so special about our team. We stick with it, no matter what happens,” said Salandra of his team’s ability to put the disappointment of a late equalizer aside. “A lot of adversity, but we always stick with each other, and that’s why we ended up winning that game.”
The Colts felt like they deserved this one.
“There’s been times this year when we really haven’t deserved the two points, that either our goalies kept us in it or specialty teams got it done for us, and we came out on the right side of it, but I thought tonight we deserved it,” said Smoskowitz. “I thought we kept our game simple, and we kept our game the way that we like to play.
“We got pucks deep, we got physical, we had good stick detail, and we kept them to the outside. Even some shifts where they had sustained offensive-zone pressure, it was all from the outside. That was kind of the game plan with these guys. If we didn’t get the two points, we’d go back and look at the film and commend the guys anyway. I’m just happy for the players that they get to reap the benefits of a good, solid 60 minutes.”
The Rangers opened the scoring 6:32 into the first when Cameron Arquette muscled Eamon Edgar off the puck in the corner and turned to find Haeden Ellis in front. He then ripped one past Jaswal.
Lowe tied it less than six minutes later when he walked into the slot and fired one far-side past Schaubel.
The Colts moved ahead at 10:40 of the second when Salandra fired a perfect pass to Gardiner across the middle slot, and the overager one-timed a drive to beat a helpless Schaubel.
A strong forecheck and physical play, all over the ice, helped the Colts stay on top in this one. Smoskowitz was happy to see his team pick things up right from where they left off in that 4-1 win over Sudbury back in Barrie on New Year’s Eve.
“That’s the name of the game,” said Smoskowitz. “That’s what the Barrie Colts are. We’re in your face, we’re a heavy, hard hockey team. We like to get in on the forecheck. We like to finish our checks. When we play this perimeter hockey, play this flashy hockey, it’s not really our identity.
“Tonight, and Wednesday against Sudbury, that was our identity. We’re hard to play against. We’re physically imposing. We’re not the prettiest team, we’re not the flashiest team, but it’s working for us so far.”
When the Rangers did push hard, Jaswal was there. He made at least three game-saving stops in overtime.
“Jazz is one of the hardest workers I know, and he kind of put that on show tonight,” said Salandra. He was just unbelievable.”
Games like this, explained Smoskowitz, help the coaching staff get their message across to players. Getting the buy-in from players can be difficult when they’re playing well, and the results aren’t there.
“Guys are starting to question things. ‘Is this actually going to work for us? Can we actually compete playing this way?’ But when you start to get the results, and the results are consistent for us in terms of wins and points, the guys start to believe in the structure,” he said.
“They believe in playing physical. They believe in playing simple. They believe in getting pucks deep and being hard to play against. They’re doing all the work, and we’re just sitting here enjoying the ride.”
UP NEXT
The Colts cap off a busy week on Saturday night when they return home to host Niagara.
Kitchener waits a week for its next game, which is at home against Oshawa on January 9.
ICE CHIPS
Kitchener outshot Barrie 34-30. . . The Colts finished 1-for-4 on the power play. Rangers were 0-for-4.
The OHL trade deadline is approaching, with the overage deadline being noon on Thursday and the deadline for remaining players being noon on Friday.
While Cole Beaudoin and Kashawn Aitcheson were helping Canada skate to a 7-1 win over Slovakia in their quarterfinal game at the IIHF World Junior Championship, and Emil Hemming helped Finland edge the U.S. 4-3 in overtime in another quarterfinal, the remainder of their teammates were improving Barrie’s record to 4-2 without the trio of stars in the lineup. “We’re a whole team, and we got a lot of young guys stepping up, and that’s why we’re winning games,” said Salandra. “Everyone is pulling their robe.”
ADD. OHL
Flint 5 London 0
Windsor 2 Niagara 1 (OT)
Kingston 4 Ottawa 3 (SO)
Owen Sound 5 Sarnia 3
Sudbury 6 North Bay 2
Guelph 6 Brantford 4
