Jan. 9/25 at Peterborough: Highlights & Recap
Barrie made an appearance in Peterborough Thursday night for the very first meeting between the Colts and Petes this season. Despite being on opposite ends of the standings, both Barrie, who sit atop the Eastern Conference, and Peterborough, a bottom-dweller, recently dealt away young players and picks in exchange for more experienced players in the lead-up to the OHL’s trade deadline on Friday. In the Colts’ case, they add more veteran talent from North Bay in wingers Anthony Romani and Owen Van Steensel to go along with centre Dalyn Wakely, who they acquired from the Battalion in October. Van Steensel debuted as a Colt the previous night in Owen Sound and was slotted alongside Wakely on the first line for this one. Thursday’s game would also mark the return of Barrie goaltender Sam Hillebrandt, his first start since winning gold with Team USA at the World Juniors.
Peterborough were first on the board, scoring two minutes into the game. That would end up being the extent of the action in period number one, and the Petes would ride their 1-0 lead into the first intermission. The Colts were in need of a regroup after 20 minutes, their offensive attack appeared ineffective, as they mustered just six shots in the period. The goalies had their way in the first, as they each came away with a highlight-worthy save and held both teams to a combined one goal.
The offensive drivers on either side of the ice remained in a lull to begin the second period. Barrie would leave it to their opponents to pick up the scoring, as the Petes extended their lead to two at 7:14 remaining in the frame. Peterborough then put Barrie in an even deeper hole, scoring two more goals back-to-back, less than 2 minutes apart, making it four unanswered and 4-0 for the Petes. The Colts finally found the back of the net with Michael Derbidge’s 5th goal this season. They would score another just a minute and 29 seconds later, this time it was the Battalion reunion line getting it done when Dalyn Wakely received a feed from his former and now current teammate, Owen Van Steensel, who registered his first point as a Colt on the goal. The five goals in the middle frame provided a very different-looking period than the first, when the dust finally settled, the Petes were left with a 4-2 lead.
The third period took on the appearance of the first, with very little offensive action on display. Peterborough would eventually score the period’s lone goal to inflate their lead to three with just four minutes remaining. The Petes managed to preserve their 5-2 lead and cemented it as the final score. Ultimately, Barrie was unable to right the ship as they’ve now dropped their first three games of the new year, their only three game-losing skid this season. These teams won’t see each other again for a month, their second and final meeting this season is set to take place on February 22nd, in Barrie.
