WOLVES EDGE COLTS 3-2
The Barrie Colts made their final trip of the season to Sudbury on Friday night, attempting to record their first win of the season against their Central Division rival.
The Wolves had won four of five games coming in to Friday’s tilt, starting with a 7-3 win on January 7th against the Colts. That game was the first of five straight losses for Barrie, who have been out-scored by 25 goals in their five game losing skid.
Sudbury entered the game with 15 wins on the season, with over a third of them coming against a Colts squad that beat Sudbury seven of eight times last year.
Clint Windsor got a surprise start in goal for the Colts, his second start against the Wolves and first since December 29th.
Windsor was great in net in the opening period, stopping all 16 shots the Wolves fired his way.
Following a scoreless first period the Colts bounced back and out-shot Sudbury in the second frame 10-7. After making 21 saves in a row Windsor couldn’t do much on a Mike Lomas goal that came with 2:29 left in the period.
Lomas was set up perfectly by Michael Sgarbossa, and made a quick move past Windsor and tucked in to the yawning cage.
The shots were 23-18 in favour of Sudbury after 40 minutes, with Alain Valiquette stopping all 18 Barrie efforts.
Valiquette already has six wins against the Colts this season and is third in the league in saves.
Zach Hall joined Chris Buonomo in the penalty box a third of the way in to the final period giving the Wolves a 5 on 3 advantage.
Sudbury wasted very little time in adding an insurance goal as Eric O’Dell fired a cross-crease pass to Michael Sgarbossa who tapped in his 21st of the season.
In the last two games against his former team, Sgarbossa has four goals and one assist, and is now second on the Wolves in team-scoring.
Shortly after the Wolves had a 5 on 3 advantage the Colts received the same opportunity and would not disappoint.
15 seconds in to the two-man advantage Matt Ashman scored his first goal as a Barrie Colt on a blast from the point making it 2-1. Colin Behenna picked up the lone assist on Ashman’s second of the season and in doing so extends his season-long point streak to eleven games.
With Windsor out of the goal the Wolves added an empty-net goal, Michael MacDonald scored with 33 seconds to go to make it 3-1.
Barrie would come back with a Petr Beranek goal coming with seven seconds to go to make it a 3-2 final.
Sgarbossa was the first star with a goal and an assist and Clint Windsor was named the second star, stopping all but two shots.
Friday’s game marks the first time in seven attempts that the Colts failed to score three goals against the Wolves. Seven of the Wolves 16 wins have come against the Colts.
The Colts will get one more chance to beat Sudbury on March 10th in Barrie when they wrap up their eight-game season-series.
Each team scored on a 5 on 3 power play and both teams ended the game 1/8 with the extra man.
