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Colts open series with overtime win

Barrie takes 1-0 series lead on Kingston Frontenacs to start second round

It should come as no surprise that two evenly matched teams who traded goals all game ended up going to overtime Wednesday night.

With a 6-5 home win, the Barrie Colts have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven second-round Ontario Hockey League playoff series versus the Kingston Frontenacs.

Less than two minutes into the extra frame at the Barrie Molson Centre, Colts forward Jason Willms fired a sharp-angle shot from deep in the corner that beat Frontenacs goalie Jeremy Helvig.

“In the playoffs, it’s not always those pretty goals,” Willms said after the game. “It’s the greasy goals that all add up and will eventually help win you a series.”

Willms, who finished the game with two goals and an assist, said in a tight game it’s best to just keep it simple.

“In overtime, if you get too cute it can cost you,” he said.

Following a first period that ended 2-2, the Colts took their first lead of the game late in the second period on rookie Ryan Suzuki’s first career OHL playoff goal to put Barrie up 4-3.

The Frontenacs tied it up again five minutes into the third period before Willms restored the Colts’ lead at 5-4. Kingston’s Jason Robertson knotted it up at 5-5 to eventually send the game to overtime.

Willms credited his team up and down the lineup.  

“We stuck with it tonight,” he said. “We didn’t get down on ourselves. Everyone was positive on the bench and that was key going into overtime.”

Suzuki, the former first-overall pick, also added an assist in the Colts victory, while Barrie veterans Aaron Luchuk and Dmitry Sokolov also had a goal and a helper each.

For Kingston, Robertson had two goals and an assist, while Cliff Pu had three helpers. Midhurst native Tyler Burnie also had an assist.

The Colts peppered Helvig with 45 shots, while Barrie’s Leo Lazarev faced 28.

Game 2 of the series goes Friday night at the BMC.

“If tonight was any indication, I think it’s going to be a good series,” Willms said.


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Raymond Bowe

About the Author: Raymond Bowe

Raymond is an award-winning journalist who has been reporting from Simcoe County since 2000
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