Weekend Preview – Dec 10 & 12
Here’s what you need to know coming into this weekend’s games…
The Colts are back at the Barrie Molson Centre for a battle with the London Knights on Thursday, December 10th, and then they take on Eastern Conference opponent, the Hamilton Bulldogs. For the first time this season, the Colts will be taking on the Knights, who find themselves third in the Western Conference with 44 points. The Knights are also 8-2 in their last ten games. The Bulldogs will travel to the BMC for the first time this season, but it will be the second time they face the Colts. In their first season, the Bulldogs are in last place in the East Division, but are 5-4-1-0 in their last ten games. The Colts come into the weekend having dropped their last game to Mississauga, but still lead the Central Division with a record of 17-10-0-0.
Barrie Colts vs. London Knights (24-4-1-1)
- Thursday’s matchup will be the first time these two teams see each other this season. Last season, the Colts swept the two game series, winning 4-3 and 10-3 over the Knights.
- Arizona Coyotes draft pick, Christian Dvorak and Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick, Mitchell Marner lead the Knights with 58 points this season. Dvorak has 25 goals and 33 assists through 25 games, while Marner has 22 goals and 26 assists, also through 25 games. Meanwhile, Olli Juolevi leads Knights rookies with 23 points. With 4 goals and 19 assists, Juolevi is also a plus-19.
- The Knights have a league leading overall power play, cruising at 34.3% efficiency. They have also scored a league leading 48 power play goals through 140 chances. Meanwhile, the Colts power play sits at 10th in the league, making good on their power play chances 19.7% of the time. On the flip side, the penalty kill for the Knights is good enough for 12th in the league, shutting the door 79.1% of the time. The Colts however, continue to find themselves at the top of the league with their 87.4% penalty kill. Both teams have 7 shorthanded goals.
- The Knights head into the weekend with a 9-3-0-0 record on the road, while the Colts are 7-5-0-0 at home.
Barrie Colts vs. Hamilton Bulldogs (11-16-2-0)
- Saturday night will mark the second time that the Colts and Bulldogs face off this season. The previous meeting saw the Bulldogs get the better of the Colts, despite a late game comeback from the Colts. The Bulldogs found the back of the net 6 times in their 6-5 win in Hamilton.
- Bulldogs centreman, Stephen Harper, leads the team with 33 points so far this season. His 16 goals and 17 assists are good enough to have him at a plus-4 rating. Matthew Strome, the youngest of the Strome brothers, leads the Bulldogs rookies with 7 points through 23 games players off of 3 goals and 4 assists.
- The Bulldogs and Colts have a very similar power play, only 0.3 percent apart. The Bulldogs have the edge, running at 20.0% efficiency and scoring 25 power play goals, while the Colts find themselves at 19.7% overall, scoring 24 power play goals. In terms of the penalty kill, the Colts take the cake and lead the league, rolling at 87.4% efficiency, contrary to the Bulldogs who sit 15th in the league at 76.7%. The Bulldogs have 3 short handed goals, while the Colts have 7.
- The Bulldogs are 4-10-1-0 when playing on the road so far this season, and the Colts are 7-5-0-0 at home.
Colts Notes
- Kevin Labanc leads the Colts with 42 points (13G, 29A), while four other Colts have double-digit goals (Mangiapane 16G, Nattinen 10G, Radke 13G, James 10G).
- Three Colts are on point streaks:
- Brendan Lemieux is on an 8-game point streak, registering 9 goals and 5 assists through that time.
- Justin Scott has 1 goal and 3 assists through 2 games.
- Adrian Carbonara also has a 2 game point streak scoring 2 goals
- Zachary Magwood leads Colts rookies with 2 goals and 3 assists for five points through 27 games.
- Mackenzie Blackwood is 16-7 this season with a 2.39 GAA and 0.930% save percentage. He also has two assists and two shutouts so far.
- Milestone alert
- Brandon Prophet enters the weekend with 49 career OHL points.
