Barry, you. – Tyler Savard’s second goal of the game, at 17:56 of the third period, broke the tie and sent the Barry Colts to a 4-2 Ontario Hockey League win Monday night over the North Bay Battalion, and their team’s seventh and deciding game. Eastern Conference Semifinal Series.
The teams meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Gardens to decide who will face the Peterborough Petes in the Conference Final.
Beau Jelsma scored 1 goal and 2 assists and Declan McDonnell 1 goal and 1 assist to third place Barry, who made 32 saves from goalkeeper Anson Thornton before a crowd of 3,269 at Sadloon Arena.
Dalene Wakely and Pasquale Zito scored at second North Bay, while goalkeeper Dom Defincentis missed three goals on 30 shots before Gilsma scored an empty goal.
Zito scored his fifth goal of the qualifiers after Kyle McDonald scored once, feeding Kyle Jackson among the hash marks on the power play at 1:47 of the final frame, tying the match at 2–2. Savard was in the box after receiving a rough call at 20:00 of the second half.
The Battalion failed to capitalize on a wildly dangerous Roenick Goodwin penalty at 13:27 before Savard, undeterred at the crease, redirected Gillesma’s pass for the winner. Artur Cholac also assisted Savard’s fourth goal.
With the troops pressing and Divincentez going for a sixth striker, Gilsma put the ball into an empty net at 19:14.
Savard gave Barry a 2-1 lead with the only goal in the second period, on the power play at 5:59, hurriedly slamming the ball in from the left circle, assisted by Braden Hash and Conor Bonnett.
Divincentes edged Zach Weigel into a fight at the right lip of the crease in the 16th minute to keep the Battalion’s deficit to one point as the Colts edged the guests 12-9 in the period.
The Battalion got off to a strong start, hitting their first seven shots before Barry responded on the fifth and topped Wakeley’s power play goal, his fifth, at 7:09. Ty Nelson and Josh Bloom pucked in, and Wakely dug deep into the right-hand circle, beating Thornton on the shoulder on the short side of an acute angle.
McDonnell tied the game at 18:14, deflecting a Gilsma pass from the goal line on the right side. Brandt Clarke, who had another assist on McDonnell’s fifth goal, has at least one point in all eleven postseason games he played, with seven goals and 16 assists for the league leading postseason scorer with 23 points.
The Soldiers ended up with a 17-11 lead in shots in the tbe frame. Barry Bo Ake hit the left post with a shot from the blue line in the ninth minute, and Bloom was denied a breakaway in the 13th minute, with the puck bobbing to the left of the net after Thornton’s save.
Fourth-ranked Peterborough posted a 5-4 home ice win over the Ottawa 67’s to eliminate the top-ranked OHL team four games to two.
Battalion Shots: As was the case in Game 3, the Battalion was backed up by a busload of fans… The Battalion has a 44-39 lost record in the playoffs since moving from Brampton in 2013, including a 20-22 on opponent ice… Troops 7- 7 all-time in Game 6 of the playoff series, including a 6-3 on the road… Battalion captain Matvey Petrov marked the end of a nine-point streak in which he scored two goals and 13 assists. For 15 points… In 25 playoff games per game, McDonald has 17 goals and nine assists and Nelson has four goals and 22 assists, tying them on 26 points for 11th in Series history, one point behind Evgeny Grachev and Jackson, who He has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points… Nelson has a nine-point streak in which he scored three goals and 10 assists for 13 points. His 22 assists are fifth all-time and his 13 assists on power play are tied with Petroff, Wojtek Wolski, and Cody Hodgson for third in franchise records… The Battalion went 2-for-3 in power play. Barry was 1 vs. 4… The Battalion, which again dressed as 11 forwards and seven defencemen, scratched Wyatt Kennedy, Jacob Therrien, Brayden Turley, Ethan Brociesin, Brett Bouchard… Barry’s scratches included Carter Lowe, Evan Ferling… and Cole Bowdoin Colts celebrated his 17th birthday… Darcy Burchill and Joe Monette were the umpires.