Photo: Ottawa 67’s Youtube
Game 2 of the second round for the Ottawa 67’s was a clubbing blow, with the team now being in a two-game deficit against the Barrie Colts. Barrie won the April 11 game 5-3.
The 67’s kicked off the game in Barrie better than they did in Game 1 and matched the Colts’ physicality with some hop out of the gate.
The recipe in the goal department stayed the same, however, as Barrie was able to snatch an early lead from a Cole Beaudoin goal that saw him burst by the 67’s defence and beat Ryder Fetterolf.
Ottawa was able to respond quickly as Spencer Bowes scored his third of the playoffs on a two-on-one with Filip Ekberg shortly after Beaudoin’s goal.
Heading into the second period tied was exactly where the 67’s wanted to be, right in the hockey game and ready to pounce. They did exactly that as captain Cooper Foster gave Ottawa their first lead of the series as he drove the net and buried a centre pass from Spencer Bowes while falling.
The Colts would respond once again to tie it as Calvin Crombie followed up with a rebound goal that 67’s goaltender Ryder Fetterolf didn’t even see go over him.
Game 2 saw the 67’s get themselves into some serious penalty trouble as they took four penalties, really putting them behind the 8-ball many times throughout the hockey game.
Barrie’s Carter Lowe extended his team’s lead with a power-play goal right at the end of the second and Ottawa found themselves down in a big hole that would be hard to climb out of.
The third period was where the 67’s had a little bit of themselves self-imploding. They gave up two more goals. One was from Emil Hemming on the first shot of the third period. Another was power-play goal at the hands of Ben Wilmott and the game became out of reach at 5-2.
Barrie took advantage of a 67’s team that became undisciplined and broke down on the rush, which has been a common theme in both games. Barrie thrives off the rush and that’s where their success has been so far in the playoffs.
67’s veteran defenseman Frankie Marrelli scored his first goal of the playoffs after receiving a pass from Filip Ekberg, stepped in and wired it past Ben Hrebik to give the 67’s some sort of life in the third period and you could feel the desire and want from the 67’s.
Ottawa did make some late pushes but not enough. Barrie takes a 2-0 series lead to Ottawa for the next two games
67’s goaltender Ryder Fetterolf stopped 30 of 35 shots on goal with a 5.00 GAA and once again kept the game from getting ugly on the score sheet. One question is if head coach Dave Cameron will go to Jaeden Nelson in Game 3 to give a change and spark for the team.
Game 3 goes on April 14 at TD Place. The 67’s will have a chance to re-enter this series or to go down three games and be on the verge of being swept.