Ekblad four goal night lifts Colts to 8-5 win over Kingston
Article Courtesy of the Barrie Examiner
Photo by Terry Wilson Photography
It was an exceptional night for the exceptional status player.
Aaron Ekblad’s four-goal night left him just one marker shy of the OHL’s all-time record for goals in a game by a defenceman in a dominant offensive effort.
Jake Dotchin would get the winner after the Barrie Colts blew a 5-1 lead, but still managed to pull out an 8-5 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs on Saturday.
“Ekblad obviously had an amazing game with the four goals,” said Colts defenceman Jonathan Laser. “We kind of let off the gas pedal (allowing four straight goals to Kingston), but I thought we did a good job responding to get the win.”
Four goals and five points were both career highs for Ekblad, who jumped from 15th to eighth place in defencemen scoring following this game.
“It’s my first hat trick in about four or five years, maybe since minor midget or bantam,” Ekblad said. “It’s been a lot of time and it was great to get that fourth one as well.
“Obviously, I’m pretty fired up.”
From very early on in this game, it was the Ekblad show.
On Barrie’s first man advantage of the night, Joseph Blandisi send a pass back to Ekblad at the point, and he ripped one through a screen that beat Kingston starter Matt Mahalak high to give the Colts a 1-0 lead.
Barrie would double its cushion while shorthanded, but still in a similar fashion.
Blandisi carried the puck up to the Kingston blue line with Ekblad trailing and audibly calling for a feed.
He got it, and Ekblad wired a slapshot past Mahalak on the blocker side for his second of the game.
The Colts weren’t willing to be pushed around by the big Frontenacs forwards in Mack Lemmon and rookie Lawson Crouse.
Shortly after Lemmon missed a bad-angle scoring opportunity, both he and Nick Pastorious went full-on for a puck that sat just outside the Barrie zone.
Pastorious, who it appeared may have tucked his right arm before bracing for contact, ending up flattening Lemmon, who lay on the ice momentarily before skating to the bench under his own power. He would return to the game in the second period.
Meanwhile, Pastorious was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for checking to the head.
