Tonight the Colts kick off their first of three games over the next three nights as Kingston is in town to take on the Colts. This is the third meeting of four this season. Both of the previous games Barrie won by 1 goal in each game. (5-4 on Oct 24 and 4-3 on Jan 2)
Kingston (19-20-5-2) is currently riding a 2 game win streak. Their last game was a HUGE win over the OHL leading Oshawa Generals which saw them win the game 3-2 in the shootout. Fronts goaltender Lucas Peressini had an incredible game stopping 42 of the 44 shots faced in the game. Will they be able to take the momentum of beating the best team in the league with them into BMC tonight?
Barrie (29-17-1-1) are coming off of a win last weekend over Niagara. Maybe not the same huge win that the Fronts are coming off but it needs to be noted that the IceDogs had been playing their best hockey of the season headed into that game. Kevin Labanc had a huge 4 point night and earned his first OHL hat-trick. Rumours were floating around the internet that a certain blog creating a photoshop of him with a cat head contributed to his performance but we don't like to take credit for players hard work!
Keys to Success: It is the final stretch to the playoffs and no team is safe right now. Kingston needs points and will come out hard tonight. The Colts will need Mac Blackwood to do what he has done all season and that is stop pucks. They need to do a better job of staying out of the penalty box as well. Leading the OHL with 865 PIMS, now is the time to really try to cut back on bad penalties because teams will take advantage of that. It is also very important that they take advantage of power play chances themselves. If you are going to spend time in the box you got to make them pay when they do the same.
Players to Watch: Kevin Labanc as we mentioned is coming off his fifth 4 point night of the season. In December he posted 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) in 13 games played. Andrew Mangiapane is on a 4 game point streak with 7 points in that time. He will be looking to extend that. Ben Harpur has also been great since coming to Barrie from Guelph and had 2 assists in the last game and was a +3 on the night. Be sure to keep an eye on him as well.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 at BMC!
#GoColts
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