When it comes to a game on the line, Kashawn Aitcheson is proving to be just money.
The Barrie defenceman continues to Kash-in when it matters most, delivering another thrilling overtime winner just 32 seconds into overtime to help lead the Colts to a 5-4 win over the Saginaw Spirit, Thursday night, at Sadlon Arena.
It was Aitcheson’s fourth game-winner in overtime and his sixth overall, leading all OHL defencemen and tying him with Oshawa’s Callum Ritchie for fifth among league leaders.
“I think it’s just the coaches putting trust in me, the work every day behind the scenes, and, obviously, my teammates for finding me and making those plays,” said the top NHL Draft project of the reason for his late-game magic.
Dimian Zhilkin, with his second of the game, tied the contest on a deflection with just 1:24 remaining and Spirit netminder Andrew Oke pulled, but the player nicknamed “Kash” by his teammates delivered once again.
“He’s a big-time player,” said Colts’ general manager and head coach Marty Williamson. “He’s calm. He’s cool. He’s in unbelievable shape and can just play and play. He reminds me of Brandt Clarke a bit. He’s a different kind of player totally, but I mean he wants that opportunity to be in the moment.
“Brandt wanted that opportunity and Kash is the same way.”
The winner came quick, as captain Beau Jelsma got the puck over the blue line to Aitcheson, who cut to the middle of the ice. A diving Zayne Parekh dove and poked at the puck, which Aitcheson batted out of the air, and while his shot was stopped by Oke, the third-year star calmly collected the loose puck and slid it on his backhand into the net.
“I just saw Parekh slide over there and made a good play over him, took advantage of his weakness, and then just found a way to put it in the back of the net,” said Aitcheson, who now has 21 goals on the season and is just the fourth defenceman in franchise history to record at least 20 goals in a season.
Gabriel Eliasson, Owen Van Steensel, Anthony Romani and Jelsma also scored for the Colts (36-18-2-2) on a night when they sent former Colt and two-time NHL Stanley Cup champion Kyle Clifford’s No. 13 to the rafters at Sadlon Arena.
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Saginaw (32-23-2-1), which dropped its third-straight, also got a goal and assist from Calem Mangone and Parekh, while OHL scoring leader Michael Misa added a pair of assists to increase his point totals (54-61-115).
It was the third-straight win for the Colts who moved to within a point of the Brantford Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Down 3-2 heading into the final period, the Colts roared back to take the lead on Van Steensel’s 17th of the season just 2:09 in and then Romani’s 12th a little more than six minutes later.
For the second straight night, the Colts gave up a late lead. In Wednesday night’s 5-4 shootout win in Guelph, Charlie Paquette sent the game to overtime with just five seconds remaining.
“Going into third-periods, they (Saginaw) were 22-0 when they had the lead, so that’s a big win for us to come back and get those two goals,” said Williamson. “Unfortunately, it’s two games in a row that teams have found one and squeaked one in on deflections, on plays to get a tie.
“Then we come back in overtime or shootout, but we’re heading in the right direction. I’m starting to see some things away from the puck that I’m a little happier with. We’re still missing some pieces; we can’t quite get the chemistry 100 per cent yet.”
Williamson liked how his team but the goal behind them and got back to work.
“Those things happen, but we didn’t hang our heads,” he said. “We put good guys out there in the overtime. Guys that can win the game for us. I thought it was a nice play by Jelsma in the neutral zone to start that whole thing off and to be able to handle that puck under pressure to make a pass and then it’s a big finish by Kash.”
Both Romani and Van Steensel now have goals in back-to-back wins. The former North Bay Battalion stars also pitched in an assist each in the win and once again came up big with the game on the line.
“They’re gamers too,” said Williamson. “They played big games and playoff games and that kind of stuff, so nothing phases those guys. Their calm and you like that kind of demeanour from star players.”
Eliasson and Zhilkin traded first-period goals, before Jelsma, on a perfect cross-crease feed by Carter Lowe, put the Colts back on top early in the second.
Goals by Parekh and Mangone just 31 seconds apart put the Spirit ahead for the first time. While the Spirit took control of things pretty much the rest of the period, the Colts would bounce back in the third.
“I thought we were more energized and thought we had a better first period,” said Williamson. “There were a couple of bobbles in the second period and a young defenceman kind of making a mistake. Those are things you have to live with when you have young defencemen, but more good signs.
“Hopefully, we can keep this winning streak going.”
The Colts will look to make it four in a row on Saturday night when they host the Kingston Frontenacs. Puck drop is 7:30 p.m.
“Everybody was hunting, everybody was going,” said Aitcheson. “We had all four lines playing super well hockey, super defensive and I think that’s just us gelling more and more every day and learning the game together.”
ICE CHIPS: Sam Hillebrandt made 35 saves to earn his 18th win in goal for Barrie. Saginaw outshot Barrie 39-34. . . Barrie’s Dalyn Wakely was suspended four games by the OHL Thursday afternoon for a match boarding infraction Saturday night against Peterborough. Wakely will miss two more games and return next March 7 in Sault Ste. Marie. Jaiden Newton sat out the second game of a two-game suspension for exceeding the fighting major threshold. . . Saginaw and their second overall power play were held scoreless on one power-play opportunity, while Barrie was 0-for-3. . . Standout Russian import Igor Chernyshov, who has 12 goals and 32 points in just 13 games, was held off the scoresheet for just the second time this season.
