Hounds Outlast Colts 4-3
A third period goal by the Greyhounds Mac Hollowell finished off a back and forth affair between Barrie and Sault Ste. Marie for a 4-3 Hounds victory.
The Barrie Colts finished off a long weekend trip up north with a tilt against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for the second and final meeting this season. Last time these two teams met the Colts took it in overtime 4-3 on September 28th in Barrie.
Since then the two teams have been a couple of the best teams in the conferences. The Greyhounds came into this game as the top team in the entire Ontario Hockey League, while the Colts came in at 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.
The first good chance of the hockey game came off the stick of the Barrie Colts. It was a two on one that eventually turned into a three on one as Joey Keane skated into the slot and slid the puck over to Dmitry Sokolov who was denied by the pad of Matthew Villalta on Barrie’s first shot of the hockey game.
As the play continued the Colts would take a penalty, which would result in a double minor. After killing off the first half, the second part of the penalty kill wasn’t as successful as the Hounds would find the back of the net.
It was a perfect cross ice pass that helped set up Tim Gettinger who quickly one-timed the pass past a sprawling Leo Lazarev as the scoring got started.
Nearing the midway point of the opening frame the Colts had a glorious opportunity to get on the board. After the puck was chipped past the Soo defense, Jason Willms raced down the wing before finding Ryan Suzuki in front for the one timer but Villalta came across to deny him with the left pad to keep the home team in the lead.
Barrie would get a powerplay of their own and after going nearly the entire man advantage with any sort of chance, they would finally find the back of the net.
After picking the puck up in his own end Sokolov skated the puck with speed down the ice before leaving it for Zach Magwood who gave it right back to him which he followed up with a shot that found its way between the Greyhounds netminder to tie the score at one. The goal was Sokolov’s 27th goal of the season.
After an exciting first period on both sides of the puck, the action would continue into the second. The Colts failed to get the puck out and it was picked up by Jordan Sambrook, who stepped past Tyler Tucker and wristed one past Lazarev to give the Greyhounds their second lead of the game at 2-1.
Nothing else would come of any of the chances until passed the midway point of the second. Sault Ste. Marie would work the puck down deep into the Barrie zone before moving a puck cross crease in front for Rasmus Sandin who had a tap in to give the Greyhounds the 3-1 lead.
Going into the third period down two goals for the Colts was going to be no easy task. Already behind the eight ball with the fact that the Greyhounds were 28-1-1-0 when scoring the first goal, being down by two with 20 minutes to play was going to be tough.
They knew they needed a quick start, and they got it. Andrei Svechnikov used his speed to move down the wing. He worked his way around the Soo defender as he cut towards the goal and he put it home. Sokolov and Aaron Luchuk helped setup the Russians 21st goal of the season.
That goal really sparked Barrie. The next few shifts the Colts were relentless with the pressure inside the Greyhounds zone. It led to a defensive breakdown, as the Colts were able to keep the puck in at the blueline. The puck would bounce around in the slot area and hop right onto the stick of Sokolov who showed off his incredible release as he fired it past Villalta to tie the game at 3. Svechnikov and T.J. Fergus tallied assists on his 28th of the season.
Barrie will now head home for a couple of days before heading back on the road to take on the Owen Sound Attack next Wednesday. They will finish off next weekend with games in London and then end it with a home tilt against Windsor on Saturday.
