Let me tell ya, that one stings. You play your guts out, you think you got it, and then BAM! Lights out. The Barrie Colts went into Oshawa Tuesday night, played maybe their best game of the whole series, and still came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 double overtime gut-punch against those Oshawa Generals. Now they’re lookin’ elimination right in the face, down 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Tough pill to swallow, kids.
So, who were the main players in this barnburner? You had the Barrie Colts fightin’ for their playoff lives, and the Oshawa Generals lookin’ to slam the door shut. It all happened Tuesday night at the Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa. Game 3, folks, and it went deep into the night. Why? Because neither team wanted to give an inch! This was playoff hockey, the kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
What went down? A whole lotta goals, that’s what. Back and forth they went. Riley Patterson got Barrie on the board early, just 2:20 in. Oshawa answers back. Anthony Romani puts the Colts up again. Then Oshawa pots two more before the first buzzer. Tied up in the second thanks to Cole Beaudoin, who was a bull out there all night. But then Oshawa strikes twice late – Beckett Sennecke and Noah Powell, 55 seconds apart – and it’s 5-3 Generals. You gotta hand it to Oshawa’s coach, Brad Malone, his guys showed, as he put it, “a lot of resiliency.” They just wouldn’t quit.
But the Colts, give ’em credit, they didn’t roll over either. Down 5-4 headin’ into the third, Kashawn Aitcheson ties it up, shruggin’ off the boos every time he touched the puck. Then, with under seven minutes left, Riley Patterson bangs home his second of the night after a broken stick leads to a turnover. Beauty! It looked like Barrie might just steal one on the road. But hold on! Oshawa pulls their goalie, Jacob Oster, and boom – Owen Griffin finds the back of the net with just 1:04 left. Unbelievable. Off to overtime we go.
The extra frames were tense. Barrie had their chances, especially on a power play early in the first overtime. Owen Van Steensel was right there, scramblin’ in the crease, but couldn’t poke it past Oster. Close, but no cigar. As Van Steensel said, “it’s a game of inches out here.” Then came the second overtime. A Barrie turnover at the Oshawa blue line – killer mistake – leads to a three-on-two the other way. Luca D’Amato to Sennecke, over to Luke Torrance, and WHAM! He wires a one-timer past Sam Hillebrandt at 8:44. Game over. Series basically over? Hillebrandt was down on the ice for a bit after that one, you gotta feel for the kid. Torrance called it his “biggest goal,” and you can believe it.
So, what now? Barrie’s backs are against the wall, down 3-0. They gotta win Thursday in Oshawa just to bring the series back home for Game 5 Saturday. Coach Marty Williamson called it a “painful loss” but knows his team battles hard. Van Steensel, who’s seen this movie before, says they’re “ready for the challenge.” They better be. It’s do or die time, simple as that. They gotta play their best game Thursday, like Williamson expects, and see where the chips fall.
References:
Colts on brink of elimination after ‘painful’ double-overtime loss in Oshawa
