The start was much better, but the struggles on home ice continued for the Barrie Colts on Saturday night.
After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead midway through the opening period, it was pretty much downhill from there as the Brampton Steelheads roared back for a 5-3 win to hand Barrie its fifth loss in seven games this season at Sadlon Arena.
A team accustomed to slow starts, the Colts took control just 10 minutes into the contest on goals by Nicholas Desiderio and Brad Gardiner, on the power play. Unfortunately for them, it was pretty much as good as it got for the rest of the night.
Brampton, for the large part, outworked, outbattled, and outshot Barrie 46-33 in another disappointing effort in front of the home-town fans.
“They took it to us a bit, but I feel like we are working hard,” said Colts’ forward Jaiden Newton. “Right now, we’re just putting things together, and we’re going to come together. Right now, we’re just on a dry streak, but we know we’re a good team, and we’re going to come back to it.”
Brampton (4-3) took over in the latter stages of the first period. Zach Nyman cut the lead in half with his first OHL goal before a couple of second-period power-play markers by Mason Zebeski and Jakub Fibigr wiped out the good start for Barrie (3-4-0-2).
“We talked a lot about the start and arriving on time. I was pretty happy with our guys in that first 17 minutes of the game,” said Colts’ head coach Dylan Smoskowitz. “We knew the second period was going to be a swing for us. Either you come out and you get a couple of goals and you outwork them, and kind of put it to bed right away, or they crawl back into the game and outwork us, and that’s what happened there in the latter.
“It’s something we talked about as a group. If you fail, it’s because you didn’t learn from your mistakes here. There’s no failure in our group. We’re going to learn from our mistakes. We’re going to be better for it and be better in Owen Sound (on Wednesday).”
The start of the third proved to be much better for the Colts, who killed off the remaining 1:15 of a Steelheads’ power play before tying things up just 31 seconds later when captain Cole Beaudoin buried a rebound in front past Zach Bowen.
That excitement, though, was short-lived thanks to a pair of Barrie turnovers in its own end. Kieran Witkowski took advantage of a Carter Lowe miscue at 6:55, and Joshua Avery beat Ben Hrebik just 84 seconds later to seal the win.
“If we turn over the puck, it’s not the end of the world. It’s usually three mistakes that kill you,” said Smoskowitz. “So, you turn over a puck, okay, that’s mistake No. 1. But if you have numbers back, and you’re below the puck and you’re thinking defence first, you probably live through that mistake.
“I thought a couple of times today we were on our toes a little bit. Maybe too amped up. We tie it, we’ve got a lot of energy. So maybe we’re cheating for offence a little bit, and we pay for it. Again, first it’s a learning experience for some of our younger guys, and we’ll be sure to show them the film. Learn from it and be better next time.”
Fresh off a 5-3 loss to Ottawa on home ice the night before, a rebuilding Steelheads squad got the boost they needed on Nyman’s late first-period goal.
Still, Smoskowitz felt his team didn’t follow that up with a strong start to the second and instead allowed their Central Division rivals to build on that momentum.
“I expect a group like ours to come out with some more jam in the second period,” he said. “We spoke about it after the first, that the first 10 minutes would determine a lot. We come out and put them to bed. We get a couple of chances and put one or two on the board, and now it’s 3-1 or 4-1, and now it’s curtains for Brampton.
“But give them credit. They came out and got themselves right back in the game. All of a sudden, it’s us playing catch-up in the third period.”
The Colts had some late chances to get back in this one. Alex Assadourian tried to bank it off the back of Bowen’s pad, but somehow the puck stayed out on the net.
Then, in the last couple of minutes, a scramble in front had the puck on the Steelheads’ goal line, but the Colts couldn’t knock it in.
“I think we just need to start burying down on our chances,” said Newton. “Starting right from the get-go, like we did tonight. It didn’t work out for us, but we just need to start, I feel, playing more as a team, and things are going to start falling in place.”
Giving up 46 shots on home ice, especially to a young, rebuilding team like Brampton, doesn’t help either.
“We need to focus on that more,” said Newton. “Whether that’s getting in guys’ lanes or winning more puck battles, or whether (it’s them) not getting inside and getting shots from the fort.”
Barrie has now dropped six of its last eight games, and the schedule doesn’t get any easier with a trip down Highway 26 to take on Owen Sound.
The Attack is off to a great start, and has already topped the Colts twice, beating them 2-1 in a shootout in Barrie, and then 5-4 in Owen Sound.
Smoskowitz is hoping the third time is the charm for his Colts.
“Yeah, it better be,” he said with a smile. “We’ve had some good battles with that group. A shootout loss and a one-goal loss up in Owen Sound. They’re a tough team. They’re playing well right now.”
It’s another good measuring stick for a Barrie team trying to find its way early in the season.
“We enjoy the challenge,” added Smoskowitz. “We’re going to have a good day (Sunday). The guys are going to get some turkey, see some family, and enjoy Thanksgiving. Right back to work on Monday and Tuesday, then on the bus to Owen Sound, where I’m looking for a full team, full 60 from them.”
ICE CHIPS
Beaudoin and Gardiner had a goal and an assist each. Beaudoin now has three goals and six assists for nine points in just four games. . . Brampton went 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Colts finished 1-for-3. . . Justin Handsor (unspecified injury) is expected to return to the lineup Wednesday night. . . Gabriel Eliasson will sit out one more game on his three-game suspension before being eligible to return next Saturday night at home against North Bay.
ADD. OHL
Sudbury 6 Erie 3
Flint 3 Oshawa 0
London 5 Sarnia 4 (OT)
Owen Sound 5 North Bay 3
Kitchener 3 Saginaw 1
Windsor 4 Sault Ste. Marie 1
