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| Saturday, March 06, 2010 |
Toffoli, 67's take down high-flying Colts
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By AEDAN HELMER, OTTAWA SUN
The Barrie Colts will have to wait at least another day to clinch top spot in the OHL standings.
The Ottawa 67’s got the better of Canada’s best junior team, taking a quick three-goal lead and winning 6-3 in front of 7,818 at Urbandale Centre on Friday.
The game was a complete reversal from the last visit Barrie made to Ottawa, when it chased starting goalie Petr Mrazek en route to a 6-4 win on Feb. 12.
Mrazek was between the pipes again with a “bounce back" performance, said coach Chris Byrne, making 35 stops, including some late game-savers.
It’s the first time Ottawa (35-24-4-3) has bested the Colts (53-9-0-2) this season.
Byrne called it a “huge win" that could go a long way in building up team confidence with the playoffs looming.
The big win put the rest of the league on notice.
“We fly under the radar, which is fine with us," said Byrne. “We’ve never proven too much, and until the playoffs, none of it matters anyway."
Colts coach Marty Williamson said the 67’s “made quite a statement" with the win.
“They were awfully hungry and they came out hard," said Williamson.
“I thought from the beginning they’re a team that we may very well see in the (conference) finals."
The 67’s came out flying against the Colts with a relentless puck pursuit, hemming the high-flying Barrie forwards in their own end and forcing turnovers in the neutral zone on their way to a 3-0 first-period lead.
Corey Cowick set up the game’s opening goal, stealing the puck in the neutral zone and sending Anthony Nigro and Andrew Merrett in on a break. Merrett finished the play by bowling over goalie Peter Di Salvo as he and the puck both found their way into the net.
Cowick and Ryan Martindale chased Di Salvo with a pair of quick strikes 59 seconds apart.
Barrie found its legs in the second period, getting two quick goals from its fourth line, with Marc Kennedy scoring the first and then setting up Zac Rinaldo.
The teams traded goals later in the frame, with Tyler Toffoli getting one on the power play before Barrie sniper Bryan Cameron answered with his 50th goal of the season.
“Obviously, we played realy well in the first period, but I thought we played even better in the third (after) weathering the storm in the second," said coach Chris Byrne.
With Barrie pressing for the tie in the third, Dalton Smith beat two Colts defenders to a soft dump-in, and worked the puck free to Toffoli, who found Cody Lindsay alone in the slot for his 37th of the year to make it 5-3.
“Coach (Byrne) mentioned to us that in the playoffs, guys would be on us like that, so I had to persevere through it and do all the dirty work," said Toffoli, named the game’s first star.
“When the final buzzer went we knew it was over, and we knew we had a good game and beat the best team in the CHL."
The 67’s can clinch the No. 2 seed and East Division title by winning in Kingston on Sunday.
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