The Barrie Colts will host the Owen Sound Attack tonight at Barrie Molson Centre for the final match-up of the regular season between the two teams. So far, Owen Sound has had the edge winning 3 of the first 5 meetings this year. The Attack shutout Barrie in the last meeting in late February with a 3-0 win. Despite controlling a large portion of the game and out shooting the Attack 34 to 25 it would be the Owen Sound special teams that would be the deciding factor in the game. The Colts were not able to capitalize on 5 power play chances while Owen Sound scored on 2 of 6 chances with the man advantage. I know what you are thinking, SPECIAL TEAMS HURTING THE COLTS?!?! Well, it happens!
Owen Sound is coming off of a 1-0 loss against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds this past Sunday. The Attack were impressive on the penalty kill killing off 6 however had no offense whatsoever being outshot 43 to 17. The Hounds had more shots in the 3rd period than the Attack tallied all game. Jack Finn had an incredible night and was the only reason the Attack were not beaten much worse. The Attack have been strong lately with a 7-3-0-0 record in their last 10 games and are currently trailing the Guelph Storm in the standings by 3 points with one game in hand. A win tonight could bring them closer to jumping them before the playoffs for the 4th spot in the West which would give them home ice in the first round of the playoffs. No doubt they will be hungry for a win tonight.
Barrie is coming off of a 5-3 loss against Erie last Saturday. The Colts had a strong game and managed to outshoot Erie 36-34 and had they been able to score more than 1 goal on 5 power play chances they could have pulled off the game in front of a sold out BMC. The game also saw Andrew Mangiapane's 40th goal of the season which, lets take a moment to admire the passing between Labanc, Blandisi and Mangiapane..
We also saw a ghost grab Connor McDavid by the face and pull him off of his feet! We assume that is what happened because there is no way a player of his skill would take a dive, right?
When Barrie last met Owen Sound on Feb 25th, they had a 9 point lead on North Bay for the second spot in the East. Today, they lead by one point. The Battalion had a huge win last night against the Greyhounds and have been on fire while the Colts have been dropping games they can't afford to right now. With a 4-6-0-0 record in the last 10 the Colts hope to get back to their winning ways tonight!
Keys to Success: (Hits play button on recorder) SPECIAL TEAMS. Colts cant be taking penalties and if they are given chances on the power play they need to score. You cant have as many games as them with so many chances and not score. The Colts need to play disciplined and find a way to put pucks in the net. Owen Sound is hungry for points and will no doubt play with a sense of urgency tonight. The Colts need to do the exact same thing.
Players to Watch: Andrew Mangiapane looks to get his 100th point on the season. Doing so will make him the 3rd Colts this season to do so (with Blandisi and Labanc) and will make the Colts the first team this season to reach that accomplishment.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 tonight at BMC.
#GoGolts
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