A good start to your day can be beneficial. It also proves helpful when it comes to getting your team into the win column.
The Barrie Colts followed that course of action to a tee this weekend and reaped the benefits, polishing off a sweep of three games in three nights with a 4-1 victory over the host Oshawa Generals on Sunday night at the Tribute Communities Centre.
The Colts (25-10-2-4), who have won six of their last seven games, were strong out of the gate in each of the three games.
In Friday night’s 6-3 road win over the Guelph Storm, they jumped out to a 3-1 lead just 12 minutes in. Then Saturday night, back home against the Brampton Steelheads, Cole Beaudoin scored just 13 seconds after puck drop, and Jaiden Newton added another less than seven minutes later to spring Barrie to a 4-1 win.
Sunday night, the Colts were off and running again when Ben Wilmott, on the power play, and Justin Handsor scored less than three minutes apart just past the midway point of the first period.
“It’s key, especially when you have a team that has so much pride in defending as our group does,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “I’m not saying if we were down a couple of goals or by a goal that we’d have a hard time coming back, but our comfort zone is defending. We want to establish an early lead.
“We want to invest in our forecheck. It’s a lot of time invested in defending leads and limiting chances against, so it’s a spot we’re comfortable with.”
Evan Passmore and Emil Hemming, shorthanded, also scored for the Colts, who debuted their new-look lineup this weekend after the trade deadline acquisitions of Mason Zebeski, Parker von Richter, and Wilmott.
“It’s never easy to bring new guys in,” said Smoskowtiz. “Guys are playing with different linemates, different defence pairings, limited practice times, and are thrust into a three-in-three with two on the road, so that’s a pretty good showing for us.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff we’re going to work on this week, a lot we can clean up, a lot we can improve on, and continue to work on our habits and what’s important to this group.
“But to get those results like that so quickly past the deadline, it was a nice weekend for us.”
Wilmott kicked things off at 11:47 of the first when Calvin Crombie slid a pass to the former London Knights forward, who was parked inside the faceoff circle, and he wired a drive over the shoulder of Oshawa goaltender Matthew Humphries.
Wilmott is showing he fits in really well on the top line with Beaudoin and Hemming. The 19-year-old has now scored in each of his first three games with the Barrie.
“A real perfect fit,” said Smoskowtiz. “Just talking to Beaudoin and Hemming, they are just so happy playing with a guy like Wilmott. That’s a goal scorer’s goal he got today. There was barely room for the puck to fit. I still have to watch the replay. I still don’t know how he got that one.”
Beaudoin would finish the night with a pair of assists and has seven points (2G, 5A) in his three games since returning from helping Canada win bronze at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
While some returning players may take a bit to get going after an intense, high-pressure international tournament, the Utah NHL prospect is right back to playing his dominant game.
“He’s relentless,” Smoskowitz said of Beaudoin, who is tied for 10th in OHL scoring with 16 goals and 48 points in 28 games. “You see some other teams around the league, and they get guys back from the world juniors, and they take the weekend off. What does Cole Beaudoin do? He comes into my office and yells at me for not playing him more.
“He’s just built differently, this guy. He’s our leader, he’s our heart and soul. We love having him here. His teammates admire him. His attitude, work ethic, and the way he carries himself, are contagious. That’s why, as a first-year coach, I’m so blessed to have leaders like this.”
Passmore, on a nice pass from Zebeski, would make it 3-0 just 38 seconds into the second, to open a fairly wide-open, back-and-forth period.
Oshawa (9-29-1-1), which has now lost 12 straight, would cut into the lead at 14:41 on a goal that deflected off the skate of Onni Kalto in front of the net.
Minutes later, the Generals looked like they had made it a one-goal game when Luke Posthumus beat Ben Hrebik, but the play was ruled offside after a lengthy review.
“It’s not what we want to see,” said Smoskowitz, of the run-and-gun middle frame. “It’s not what we plan, but at the same time, you have to understand it’s a three-in-three. It’s tough for these guys. It’s a lot of hockey, a lot of travel. They’re mentally fatigued, physically fatigued.
“It’s a bunch of players playing with new guys for the first time, so it’s to be expected, but it is something we will look at as a group this week, and something we want to clean up.”
The Generals would have another excellent chance to draw closer early in the third when Crombie drew a hooking call. Hemming, though, would provide extra insurance for the Colts at 2:40 when he pounced on a Beaudoin rebound in front and beat Humphries.
It was Barrie’s third short-handed marker in its last four games.
“(Assistant coach) Patrick Sexton has done a great job with our penalty kill,” said Smoskowitz. “We don’t expect to score, but when you defend properly, scoring chances present themselves.”
They pretty much shut the Generals down from there in the third. The Colts have been fairly good over the last while closing out wins.
“It was the ninth period in three days, so we take a lot of pride in what we do during the week, whether it’s in the gym or on the ice,” said Smoskowitz. “We call it investing days, and we do that for this reason.”
“For the last two nights, for us to hold the lead in the third period and give up limited chances against some pretty decent teams who were pressing pretty good, as a coaching staff, we’re very proud of our guys digging in,” added the Colts’ head coach.
The Colts return to action Thursday night when they kick off a three-game weekend against the Flint Firebirds, who sit atop the Western Conference standings.
Game time at the Sadlon Arena is 7 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Barrie outshot Oshawa 41-31. . . Hrebik, who leads all OHL goalies with a .930 save percentage, made a spectacular glove save midway through the second period that is certain to find its way onto league highlight reels when he dove across his crease to rob Posthumus on a two-on-one. “To be honest with you, I put my head down and heard a bunch of cheers,” said Smoskowitz of the huge stop. “Then I didn’t see anyone line up at centre ice, so I was very confused about what happened. It’s in his glove, and I don’t know how the kid does it. I don’t know how the kid isn’t drafted, how the kid isn’t signed.” . . . Assistant coach Connor Cadaret had the “hawk eyes” from upstairs on the Oshawa goal ruled offside. “As soon as that puck crossed the line, he was buzzing down to our coaches, telling us to challenge it,” said Smoskowitz. “He remains perfect with his coach’s challenges this year.”
