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Battalion give up 3-goal lead; series tied 2-2

It was a tale of 2 games. With the visiting Battalion looking so good and building up a huge 3-goal lead early in the 2nd period, but the Barrie Colts didn’t quit.

It was a tale of 2 games. 

With the visiting Battalion looking so good and building up a huge 3-goal lead early in the 2nd period, but the Barrie Colts didn’t quit.

Down 4-1, the Colts offence woke up big time as they scored 6 unanswered goals including a pair of 5 on 3 power play markers in the middle frame en route to a 7-4 Colts win over the Battalion in game 4 to even the OHL Eastern Conference semifinal at 2-2.

Coach Stan Butler felt his team came out too passive in game 3 but they certainly weren’t passive on this night. 

The energy was very apparent.

At 6:18 Ben Thomson rumbled down the right wing after a giveaway by Colts defence man CJ Garcia. 

The overager capitalized as he put a shot over the shoulder of McKenzie Blackwood.

Shortly after that the Colts look to respond as Mitchell Theoret had a great opportunity in front of the Battalion net, and fired one off the post. 

Less than a minute after that, Barclay Goodrow came down the left wing and beat Blackwood far side to make it 2-0 at 7:01.  

The Colts called a time out and replaced Blackwood with Daniel Gibl.

After he made a couple of key stops, Blackwood was put back in the net. 

Then, Mike Amadio picked up a puck at the slot and put the puck between the pads and beat Blackwood to make it 3-0 at 9:23 with assists to Matt McLeod and Dylan Blujus.    

The Colts Brendan Lemieux came out of the box after serving coincidentals with Vincent Praplan and re-directed a Liam Maaskant pass which made it 3-1 at 14:29 of the first.

That’s the way it stayed after 20 minutes of play. 

A great start for the Battalion on the road looking to take that 3-1 series lead. 

During an intermission interview on Rogers TV Vincent Praplan spoke of the importance of the good start.   

"We didn't play well enough on Tuesday, so we needed to come out strong this period and I think we did," said Praplan to Rogers  TV's Craig Ripley. 

Early 2nd, the Troops built on their lead as Kyle Wood, from one knee, ripped a shot past Blackwood at 4:23 of the middle frame.  

That goal sent Blackwood to the bench permanently on this night as Gibl came in to replace him for the second time in game 4. 

The parade to the penalty box started to take its toll on the Troops. 

It started with a bizarre call as Zach Hall is hauled down and the officials take both Marcus McIvor, and Brett McKenzie to the box, giving the Colts a 2 minute 5 on 3. 

Zach Hall contributed to the Colts first power play marker of the series as he blasted a one-timer that went off Brendan Lemieux in front to make it 4-2. 

Not long after that, Matt MacLeod was called for a neutral zone cross check on Aaron Ekblad which led to another power play.

Then shortly after that, Ben Thomson laid out Hall and the Colts were awarded their second lengthy 5 on 3 of the period. 

Once again, the Colts capitalized as Andreas Athanasiou made a nifty feed to Brendan Lemieux in the slot and he fired a shot under the bar for his hat trick goal and it was 4-3.

Then at 14:04, Tyson Fawcett won a draw back to Liam Maaskant who put a shot through traffic and tied the game 4-4. 

Going back to the end of the first period, the Battalion had 5 straight penalties called against them.

While the 3rd was a great period for the Troops throughout the playoffs, that wasn’t the case in game 4 on this night. 

From a very bad angle on a good battle down low, Tyson Fawcett snuck in and beat Jake Smith on the short side for the Colts first lead of the game at 4:39 of the 3rd period, for the eventual game winner which made it 5-4. 

Fawcett and Ekblad were sent to the box around the mid point of the 3rd, and the Troops had a 1:15 5 on 3 power play. 

The Troops moved the puck around effectively but could not solve Gibl.  

Then with Goodrow in the box for a high stick Andreas Athanasiou won a draw and Zach Hall ripped one past Smith with Lemieux in front to make it 6-4 only 2 seconds into the Colts power play at 13:20.

Then on the Colts 10th power play chance in the last 2 minutes, Garrett Hooey got some more insurance as he tipped a Aaron Ekblad shot past Smith to make your final score 7-4.  

 

PLAYOFF NOTES

Battalion forwards Zach Bratina and energy forward Jamie Lewis were replaced by Jarret Steege and Mike Baird up front

- Battalion dman Brendan Miller was out so both Riley Bruce and Kyle Locke were dressed for game 4.

- www.battalionhockey.com reports Lewis and Miller were sick, and Bratina was still suffering from concussion symptoms from a centre ice collision with Garrett Hooey in game 2. 

- Dylan Blujus logged close to 20 minutes of play alone after 40 minutes of play.  

- After replacing MacKenzie Blackwood twice, Daniel Gibl finished with a perfect night stopping all 22 shots he faced for the win.

- Battalionhockey.com reported police were called near the media area as the bad feelings from the game spilled over into that area of the building. 

- Game 5 is set for 7:30 pm Friday night at Memorial Gardens.  

- Game 6 will take place in Barrie for a 6 pm puck drop.   If necessary, game 7 would take place on Tuesday, April 15th at 7pm at Memorial Gardens.   


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Chris Dawson

About the Author: Chris Dawson

Chris Dawson has been with BayToday.ca since 2004. He has provided up-to-the-minute sports coverage and has become a key member of the BayToday news team.
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