Nov. 30/24 vs Brantford: Highlights & Recap
The Brantford Bulldogs and Barrie Colts faced off in Barrie on Saturday night for Barrie’s annual ‘Teddy Bear Toss’ night. Barrie looked to end on a high note in what had been a very successful month for the team, winning 8 of their 12 games played in November. This was the second matchup between the Colts and Bulldogs this season. previously, Barrie travelled to Brantford and bested them 3-2 on the back of a Beau Jelsma overtime goal.
The Colts dominated play for the first half of the opening frame, hemming the Wolves in their own end and testing Brantford netminder Ryerson Leenders with a frenzy of scoring chances. The Bulldogs weren’t credited with their first shot until 7:18 into the game on a clearing attempt that ended up in Sam Hillebrandt’s glove. In the same shift where he blocked a shot and limped back into play, Beau Jelsma hustled down to the opposite end of the ice and scored the goal that sent the Teddy Bears onto the ice and the arena into a frenzy. After the festivities were over and the puck was dropped, the Colts added to their lead almost immediately when Riley Patterson found the back of the net. Barrie’s pair of goals were separated by just 24 seconds in the box score and they would take that 2-0 lead into the 2nd.
Despite trailing in the game and being outshot 16-4 the Bulldogs came out hot in the 2nd period, Nick Lardis got on the board just 42 seconds into the frame to cut the Colts lead down to 1. Barrie didn’t relinquish any momentum and built their lead back up to 2 on Kashawn Aitcheson’s 8th goal this season. Brantford would score again just past the midway mark of the game before Riley Patterson and Brad Gardiner each picked up their 10th goal on the season, bolstering Barrie’s lead to 5-2, where it would remain heading into the 3rd.
The final frame was full of back-and-forth chances but they were empty calorie scoring opportunities for the most part. The Colts essentially steered the ship into calm water and kept their opponent off the scoresheet in the 3rd. Overall the closing period was rather uneventful in contrast to the rest of the game and if it weren’t for an empty net goal from the Teddy Bear Toss goal scorer Beau Jelsma there would have been no scoring in the frame.
A very entertaining contest in which the two starting goalies faced a total of 82 shots. A standout performance from Barrie goaltender Sam Hillebrandt lifted his team to victory. Sam stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced, a nice bounce back for the workhorse goaltender in his first start since he struggled and was pulled against Sudbury on Thursday night. The Colts cap off a phenomenal month with a big win to move to 17-8-0-0 on the season, Brantford’s loss drops them to 12-10-3-0, the two will meet again on December 13th in Brantford.
