Colts double IceDogs in opener
Alex Assadourian collected a goal and an assist as the Niagara IceDogs dropped a 4-2 decision at Barrie in OHL playoff action Thursday. Photo: OHL IMAGES.
The Niagara IceDogs’ first playoff appearance since 2018/19 ended in a 4-2 loss to the Barrie Colts Thursday night in Game 1 of their Ontario Hockey League 1 best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final playoff series.
Despite the outcome, IceDogs head coach Ben Boudreau had no qualms with the effort.
“It was a great game,” he said. “If you’re a fan and you come to a playoff game, that’s exactly what you want to see. It looked like we were division rivals, there were big hits on both sides and there was a lot of emotion involved. Both teams played defensively, both teams earned their opportunities.”
The teams exchanged goals in the first period, Anthony Romani opening the scoring for Barrie, before Kevin He replied for Niagara.
Cole Beaudoin gave the Colts a 2-1 lead early in the second before Alex Assadourian tied the game again at 2-2.
Romani’s second of the game, late in the second period, proved to be the game winner before Owen Van Steensel netted a late goal in the third to conclude the scoring.
“They scored, we tied, they scored, we tied, they scored and that was the difference,” Boudreau said. “We had a five-minute major power play, we didn’t capitalize on it.”
The IceDogs had one power-play goal while the Colts were shut out in two chances with the man advantage.
“We won the special teams battle but five-on-five they found a way to score two goals,” Boudreau said
Boudreau said the effort was exactly what was needed against a much more experienced and high-powered Colts squad.
The IceDogs came into the game with a total of 65 total playoff games of experience, 62 of which come from the defencemen.
“We left everything out there. Nothing to be ashamed of,” Boudreau said. “They executed two more plays than we did. So we’ve got to get back to it and highlight some of the things we did well, correct some of the things we didn’t, and look forward to Monday.”
Boudreau believes if the IceDogs play as a unit, good things will happen.
“When we played together at the start of the season, we’ve proven that we could beat anybody, right from the London Knights down to, you know, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “So that’s what we did tonight, we played a team game and we were right there. And like I said, we had a breakaway in the first shift of the third and we had a five-minute major that we had chances on. Any one of those opportunities could have gone in and it would have been a different game. That’s what really good goalies do, they find a way to steal a game for you.”
Sam Hillebrandt made 25 saves in goal for Barrie.
Owen Flores faced 38 shots for Niagara.
Game 2 is Monday in Barrie. Games 3 and 4 are in Niagara Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
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