On another night when the Barrie Colts offence wasn’t quite connecting, Ben Hrebik ensured that the little offence they did produce was enough to get the job done.
In easily the best effort of his brief OHL career, the backup goaltender kicked aside 36 of 37 shots and held off a late Sudbury Wolves surge to help lead the Colts to a 2-1 victory, Saturday night, at Sadlon Arena.
The win was the first in the OHL for Hrebik, who got into just two games last season and snapped a two-game losing skid for Barrie (2-2).
Kieron Walton’s rocket to the top of the net on the power play with 8:08 was the lone shot to beat him. While the Wolves pressed late, Hrebik held the fort.
“What a great job. He was outstanding tonight, by far the first star,” Williamson said of his young goalie’s effort. “It puts a big smile on my face to know we got a kid who looks like he’s really going to do a good job for us.”
While the Colts’ offence continued to sputter, Hrebik got stronger as the game moved forward.
“It feels good as an old guy in the league now having a backup tender like that,” said Colts’ defenceman Beau Akey, playing his first game in almost a year since having surgery on both shoulders last season. “He played very well. He saved 36 shots, so he was definitely sound back there.”
With plenty of new faces in the lineup and captain Beau Jelsma (injury) and Riley Patterson (suspension) still out, the Barrie offence is off to a slow start.
The Colts have just seven goals in four games, including just four over their last three.
They had no shortage of scoring chances and plenty of chances to put this one away early, but once again the finish just wasn’t there.
“We’re really snake-bitten offensively,” said Williamson. “Some guys had some good looks. (Tai) York and most of our forwards had good looks and they’re missing the net or fanning. We just can’t seem to get four or five numbers on the board there. It’s always two and it gets tough, pretty fine that way.
“You take a couple of penalties and let a team back in. It wasn’t perfect. We didn’t have enough guys playing well tonight, but when we look back at the end of the year it’s two points.”
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Akey believes it’s only a matter of time before things turn around on the offensive side of the puck.
“We’re getting chances,” he said. “I think it will come as the season goes on. It’s still early, guys are still trying to gel. They’re still dialling in that accuracy in their shots, so I think as the season goes on we’ll be burying those.”
Sudbury (2-2) goaltender Nate Krawchuk certainly didn’t make things easy, stopping 34 of 36 shots he faced.
Barrie had a couple of good scoring chances early in the first, but it wasn’t until the beginning of the second period that their offence showed signs of life and produced all the scoring they would need in this one.
Evan Passmore re-directed a feed from Cole Beaudoin while driving to the net to put the Colts on top at 5:12. Then just 45 seconds later Zach Wigle raced down the left side and wired a shot past Krawchuk for what proved to be the winner.
“I thought we had a couple of good chances right at the start of the game and then we went kind of quiet. We definitely had more life in the second period, we were imposing ourselves.
“Then we lost a couple of guys. Our bench is a little short right now. It was a grind out there and, as I said, it’s two points and we’re pretty happy to get them right now.”
Williamson was also happy to get Akey back on the blue line. While his ice time was limited, the Edmonton Oilers prospect provided a struggling offence, especially on the power play, a big boost.
Barrie was 0-for-5 on the power play and now sits 14th overall heading into Sunday night’s road contest against the Oshawa Generals.
“He’s a calming influence,” Williamson said of Akey. “He can go back and get pucks for us. He just balances us a lot better. This is what we envision with this team, is having those three guys (Akey, Kashawn Aitcheson, Tristan Bertucci). We can move them around in different ways.
“It’s just nice to see him back and healthy. He had a smile on his face. It’s baby steps with him a little bit. He wants to play again tomorrow night, so we’ll get him back in there.”
Akey admits it will take him a little time. He certainly felt it the first few shifts.
“A little shaky, a little scared, but we got used to it as the game went on,” he said.
Despite his limited action, Akey certainly showed flashes of why his return is key for the Colts. On one play he fired the puck high from the point to get a faceoff and a line change for his exhausted teammates.
On another play, he could have stepped forward to grab a loose puck at centre ice but noticing a Sudbury player was getting out of the penalty box he stayed back to play it safe and make sure the Wolves didn’t end up with an odd-man rush.
“He’s got good hockey IQ,” said Williamson. “He gets the game out there and he manages his game really well. That’s a big thing for him. He’s taking care of himself. His wind is a little bit off, it’s not what he wants it to be so, he’s playing really smart.”
The Colts will face another stiff challenge when they face the Generals, who just added sniper and Winnipeg Jets prospect Colby Barlow in a big deal. Also, 2024 third-overall NHL pick Beckett Sennecke returns to the lineup after being sent back by the Anaheim Ducks.
“They’re going to be a top team in our conference again along with us,” said Akey. “It’s going to be a battle for the first four or five spots in our conference. I think we can handle them, we just got to bury our chances more often.”
Game time at the Tribute Communities Centre is 6:05 p.m.
ICE CHIPS: Patterson will return Sunday after completing his two-game suspension. . . The captain has returned to Barrie. “Pittsburgh phoned me today and Jelsma is coming back on Monday, so it’ll be nice to see him back around here at practice,” said Williamson. “He’s still a couple of weeks away from playing, but just getting him back around the guys is a real positive.” . . . Wolves blueliner Nick DeAngelis waited at the Barrie bench for Aitcheson to jump on the ice late in the second, and when he did the two immediately dropped their gloves and fought. Aitcheson easily won the one-sided battle, landing five or six big blows before sending the Sudbury overager to the ice. . . With Akey returning, the Colts dressed an extra defenceman and played a forward short. . . With two more minors last night, Colts’ Gabriel Eliasson leads the OHL in penalty minutes with 16.
