OHL Kingston Frontenacs

Fronts Fall 4-1 in Barrie, Trail Colts 2-0 in Series

Published on April 6, 2018 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kingston Frontenacs News Release


The Kingston Frontenacs suffered a tough overtime loss in game one, but still had an opportunity to steal home ice advantage with Friday night's game two in Barrie. Jason Willms gave the Colts a 1-0 series lead with his overtime winner on Wednesday night. It was an exciting opening game of the series with 11 goals being scored in total. Neither team led by more than a goal in the series opener. It was the type of game everyone expected from this series with a lot of offence and a close game throughout. Kingston was hoping to flip the result in game two in order to head home with the series tied 1-1.

A bad trend started early in the game for Kingston, and that was trips to the penalty box. Matt Hotchkiss was called for interference early in the game and Barrie took advantage. Justin Murray beat Jeremy Helvig late in the power play to put the Colts ahead. Jacob Paquette went to the box just minutes later but Kingston killed that penalty off. The big blow was when Ted Nichol was called for a check from behind and was handed a five minute major penalty that comes with a game misconduct. Losing the captain for the game wasn't ideal, but Kingston killed off the entire major penalty without giving up a goal. It appeared to give them a bit of a boost late in the period. They spent some time in the offensive zone and drew a penalty near the end of the period. They weren't able to even the game, but considering the time they spent killing penalties it could have been a lot worse than trailing 1-0 after twenty minutes.

Kingston carried some momentum into the second period and had a much better frame. After nearly seven minutes of sustained pressure the Frontenacs tied the game. Jason Robertson found the puck in a mad scramble in the Barrie crease and put it in for the game tying goal. In a reversal of the opening period, the Barrie Colts were the team that had the parade to the penalty box. The Kingston power play had some chances, but couldn't beat Leo Lazarev to take the lead. Late in the period Jeremy Helvig had some massive saves, and then he got a helping foot from Sean Day who made a beautiful kick save with just seconds remaining in the period. Through two periods, game 2 was every bit as entertaining as game 1 although it was a much lower scoring affair. The teams were tied 1-1 after two periods of play.

The game continued to be close throughout the third period. It was Barrie that jumped ahead at 4:47 when Zachary Magwood used a screen and beat Helvig over the glove to put his team ahead. Kingston pressured to tie the game throughout the period, but Leo Lazarev was standing tall. As time ticked away, the Frontenacs started to take more chances in an attempt to get the equalizer. Unfortunately those chances led to a breakaway for Andrei Svechnikov. He went to the backhand and tucked it under the bar for the insurance goal Barrie was looking for. Svechnikov also added an empty net goal to give the Colts a 4-1 lead. That would be the final score and the Colts took a 2-0 lead in the series.

Kingston played a strong road game and the final score didn't resemble how close the game was. With the right bounce in either game, Kingston could be headed home with a 2-0 series lead, but instead will need two wins on home ice to tie the series.

The teams will now head to Kingston for game three on Sunday evening at 6 PM. Game four will happen on Tuesday night at 7 PM. Tickets are available for both of those games.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from April 6, 2018


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