The kids may just be all right after all.
With overagers Jacob Frasca and Connor Punnett scratched just before game time amidst trade rumours, a young Barrie Colts lineup showed they were fine without them after pulling off a thrilling come-from-behind 4-3 shootout win over the Sudbury Wolves, Thursday night, at Sadlon Arena.
Riley Patterson scored his second of the game at 5:11 of the third period to tie it at 3-3 and then Beau Jelsma potted the lone goal in the shootout to bring the crowd of 4,271, the largest this year, to its feet in one of the most entertaining games in Barrie this season.
Jelsma nearly ended the game earlier when he rang one off the crossbar in the dying seconds of the game.
“We got a lot of young guys, but they battled really hard and wanted to win this one,” said Barrie overage goaltender Ben West who earned first star honours after stopping 44 of 47 shots. “It’s what we do best, is we find a way. It was a big win for us.”
With the OHL trade deadline less than two weeks away and the Colts likely looking to the future, the surprise scratches of Frasca and Punnett just before game time brought up the question of whether both key veterans had been moved.
Not so, says Colts general manager and head coach Marty Williamson.
“We had our (starting) lineup, and then we got the phone call that Punnett was pretty sick,” Williamson said of the Colts captain who is apparently battling a stomach flu. “Both guys should be back, hopefully, for the weekend. It’d be nice to get our two overagers back.”
Nonetheless a young Barrie lineup, with three rookies on the blue line and battling to make the playoffs, held its own against one of the conference’s top team teams to earn an important two points.
The Colts (13-16-1-0) now sit five points behind the Peterborough Petes for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
An intense game throughout, both teams fought hard for the extra point that could prove vital down the road.
“It really is,” Williamson said when asked how big earning the extra point was. “I saw the scores and the (Niagara) IceDogs lost, and Peterborough lost. That’s probably the teams we’re going to have to get ahead of in this second half if Peterborough sells like we think they are, so every point is important.
“If we can scratch out wins like this, especially against top teams, they’re huge points because Sudbury goes in and beats those teams, and it turns into a four-point gain for us.”
A power-play goal on a slapshot from the point by Jack Brauti just 4:40 into the game put the Colts on top before Patterson added to the lead just 1:17 into the second.
Sudbury (16-11-3-2) though would roar back to score three times in a dominating second period to grab a 3-2 lead into third.
With the Wolves buzzing, Alex Pharand notched goals less than five minutes apart midway through the frame, including one on the power play, to tie it before Quentin Musty ripped his 16th of the season short side past West to give the visitors their first lead with under three minutes remaining in the second.
Sudbury outshot Barrie 23-8 in the lopsided frame. It was like a shooting gallery for West, but the veteran came up big time after time.
“It was a little tiring, but I just focused on staying ready for the next shot and not thinking about what happened,” said West. “Then we got to the intermission, regrouped, and came out great again.”
Williamson thought his club managed the game well in the first, but things got away from them in the second.
“It’s like five or six plays, if we had just managed differently, the whole period would have been a different period,” he said. “It wouldn’t have got away from us so bad, but I thought we got back to it in the third.”
West stood tall in the third and then again in the shootout when both teams had a chance to end it.
The veteran goalie would stop all three attempts in the shootout to lock down the win.
“We lost the last game before the break in overtime (4-3 to Kitchener), so we really wanted to get the win this time,” said West. “We worked really hard, especially in that third to come back, and we got the win. We did a good job tonight.”
The clock continues to tick down towards the Jan. 10 trade deadline. Teams are knocking on the door for Frasca and Punnett.
“They are,” said Williamson. “They know we have very good overage players and they’re going to make offers, and we’re going to have to make business decisions at that point. We love both of those guys. They’re the guys who are pretty sought after.
“If it makes business sense, then you got to make those moves. We could even be younger after the Jan. 10 deadline, but we’ll see.”
The Colts hit the road to take on the Brantford Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, before returning home to face the Owen Sound Attack on Sunday in their traditional New Year’s Eve contest.
“We’re in a good position,” added Williamson. “We got draft picks, we got a good young hockey team. If teams aren’t making the right kinds of offers, then we’ll keep our guys and push for the playoffs. See if we can give someone a real hard time in that first round.”
Game time Saturday at Brantford Civic Centre is 4 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: The Colts also expect to get overage goalie Anson Thornton back. The Arizona Coyotes prospect is injured and has been rehabbing in Tucson. “They basically told him if nothing really changes he’s probably coming back,” said Williamson. “The date they’ve given us is Jan. 2nd and they’ve told him. I’ve talked to Thornton and he knows, but one mishap up there, one goalie gets hurt in Arizona, one goalie gets hurt in Tucson and they’re going to change their plans. We’ll just play that a day at a time.” The return of Thornton will likely lead the Colts to explore and see if there’s a market for an overage goalie. . . Bode Stewart (shoulder) returned to the lineup after missing over a month. “He looks good in practice, but he was feeling it out there at times,” Williamson said of the forward. . . Cole Beaudoin (14-14-28) drew two assists and now has six goals and eight assists for 14 points in his last nine games. . . Marcus Vandenberg stopped 18 shots in goal in the loss for Sudbury. . . David Goyette (16-33-49) had an assist and is now tied with London’s Denver Barkey for sixth overall in OHL scoring.
banner image: Sam Hossack, Barrie Colts
