Colts gallop over 67’s to win 6-2

The Barrie Colts exploded with 4 goals in the third period to take a 6-2 decision over the visiting Ottawa 67’s on Thursday night. The win gives Barrie a 5-point cushion over North Bay for 2^nd in the Eastern Conference while the loss for Ottawa creates a negative impact. If Ottawa won, they would have been sitting in 4^th place for home ice advantage. Instead, they find themselves 1-point behind Niagara, Mississauga and Peterborough for 7^th in the Eastern Conference. With 1 to 3 games in hand, every game leading up to the playoffs is important.

The Colts scored on the first shift of the period just 35 seconds in and on the last shift of the period with one second remaining. Despite a pretty good effort during the rest of the opening frame, the 67’s found themselves with a 2-goal deficit going into the second period.

The Colts, who lead the league with 952 PIM, ran into penalty trouble during the first half of the game. Luckily for them, the 67’s power play was worse and failed to maintain any possession of the puck. After failing to connect on a 5-on-3 advantage, the 67’s finally capitalized on their 5^th power play opportunity as Travis Barron sent a bullet past David Ovsjannikov in the Barrie net.

Barron added his second of the night after he bangs in a loose puck right in front of Ovsjannikov to tie the game at 2. The Colts didn’t get a shot in the second period until the 11:16 mark and the 67’s managed to hold them defensively to 4 shots total.

Then the Colts woke up.

Cordell James, Michael Webster, Anthony Stefano and Dylan Sadowy combined for 4 straight Barrie Colts goals in the third period to put a nail in the coffin. As hard as they tried, the 67’s could not beat Ovsjannikov again and fell 6-2.

This was the 7^th loss in their last 8 games for the 67’s who are in a very important playoff race. They will have another chance to regroup tomorrow night down highway 400 as they take on another struggling team, the Guelph Storm. 

Game summary here.